‘Our final gun position Medjes el Bab [sic] valley May 43’ (oil on board)

‘Our final gun position Medjes el Bab [sic] valley May 43’. Oil on board by Cyril Mount, 2009 circa. A Royal Artillery 25-pounder, situated in a wheat field in the Medjez Valley, opens fire on enemy positions during the advance on Tunis. The artist, Cyril Mount, formerly a captain in the Royal Artillery, took part in the First Army’s drive on Tunis. His unit, formerly with Eighth Army, was transferred to First Army command in April 1943. The latter formation had landed in Algeria the previous November. The Allies entered Tunis on 7 May 1943 after surrounding thousands of retreating German and Italian troops. Soldiers from Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery's Eighth Army had pushed westward and linked up with the Allied forces commanded by General Dwight Eisenhower.