Page 107 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side

EDWARD ISIDORE UGARTE, Second Lieutenant, Royal Artillery
1920 - 18th June 1944

Jose Ugarte was from Spain and in 1911 he was employed as an Engineer's Clerk in
Gravesend, Kent. His wife, Mabel, was English, born in Hastings, Sussex. Their daughter,
Eleanor married Laurence Hart in 1941. Laurence and Eleanor’s family home was in Mount
Culver Road, Foots Cray.

Eleanor had a brother, Edward, born in Gravesend in 1920. Edward Ugarte enlisted with the
Army at Ilkley in North Yorkshire and was assigned to The Royal Artillery. He served with
the Regiment during the fall of France when they fought in Arras and from May 1941 they
were assigned to North Africa. The Regiment joined the 7th Armoured Division in July 1942
and served with them throughout the North African campaign.

The North African Campaign - The Battle for North Africa was a struggle for control of
the Suez Canal and access to oil from the Middle East and raw materials from Asia. Oil in
particular had become a critical strategic commodity due to the increased mechanisation of
modern armies. Britain which was the first major nation to field a completely mechanised
army, was particularly dependent on the Middle Eastern oil. The British pushed the Italian
10th Army out of Egypt and then on 3rd January 1941, scored a major victory at Bardia, just
outside Libya.

On 14th April 1941, Rommel's main force reached Sollum on the Egyptian border and his
troops occupied the key terrain of the Halfaya Pass. The German high command,
meanwhile was concerned about the speed of Rommel's advance and his failure to take
Tobruk. They sent General Friedrick von Paulus to North Africa to assess the situation and
bring Rommel under control. The report back to Berlin described Rommel's weak overall
position and his critical shortage of fuel and ammunition. The report also reached
Churchill via Ultra intercepts.

Under Churchill's orders, a British supply convoy, code-named Tiger, made its way to
North Africa carrying 295 tanks and 43 Hawker Hurricane fighters. Despite heavy air
attacks, the Tiger convoy arrived on May 12th after losing only one transport that carried 57
tanks. Edward Ugarte's Regiment combined with a large number of others to defeat
Rommel, whom Churchill was convinced was considerably weakened.

In January 1944, the 7th Armoured Division, RA Regiment returned to England and for five
months, whilst it was refitted, it trained in great secrecy in preparation for a possible
invasion of enemy held France.

Early in 1944, Edward married his fiancé Margaret Horner in lkley. Margaret’s father,
Thomas, had served as a motor mechanic in the First World War. The couple did not have
long as man and wife before Edward's Unit was involved in a battle which is defined as "the
beginning of the end" of the War in Europe.

Liberation of Europe - 1944 D-Day and the Normandy Landings - On 6th June, the
historic Normandy invasion commenced. The weather had at last calmed down after a few
stormy days but the seas were still extremely rough and after a dramatic few hours 2nd
Lieutenant Ugarte landed with the 7th Armoured anti-tank Regiment on the beach by
Avranches, Lower Normandy.

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