Cecil Steff
Gunner who took part in night raids on the French coast and saw action in the Normandy landings
CECIL STEFF, who has died aged 100, was a gunner officer whose adventurous career in the Second World War included a spell in the Special Forces. Steff joined 63 (Midland) Medium Regiment RA in France in February 1940. At the end of May he was shocked when the orders came to spike the guns – “one shell down the muzzle, one up the breech, head well down and pull the lanyard” – and make for Dunkirk. He and three comrades were among the last to reach the beach because they volunteered to man the lorries and help evacuate the infantry.
They were dive-bombed and machine-gunned by Stukas but they commandeered an abandoned Bofors gun and fought back. On arrival at the sand dunes they were shaken to see long lines of soldiers snaking across the beach and up to their necks in water, waiting for ships.
When a fully laden ship started signalling by lamp, Steff asked the sergeant if he could read the message. The man could not so Steff pretended that he could and said that they wanted more men quickly as they were ready to go. The four of them jumped on board just as it pulled away.
Cecil Edward Steff was born in Hackney, East London, on August 11 1918. The next-door household, he used to say, was rather posh and had its own horse and carriage. Aged 14, he had a passion for cycling and he and his best friend used to pack up after office work on a Saturday morning, cycle 50 to 80 miles and camp overnight somewhere in Essex before returning home for tea on Sunday.
He was educated at the Grocers’ Company School and, called up in 1939, he joined the Royal Artillery. In July 1940, after the evacuation from Dunkirk, he rejoined his Regiment at Larkhill, Wiltshire. He was told that he and his comrades had been given up for lost and that they had all been awarded a Military Medal. It was never given.
In August 1942 he volunteered for “Hazardous Duties”, and after rigorous training in the Welsh mountains he took part in two raids on the French coast. He was trained in explosives and was one of a small group that crossed the Channel under cover of darkness before transferring from a boat to a dinghy. On landing, he said, “I attached my explosives to a pillbox while the others shot up the area. Then I ran like hell back to the dinghy without waiting for the explosion.”
In May 1943 he was commissioned and posted to 15 Medium Regiment RA. The Regiment, in 2nd Canadian Army Group, took part in the Normandy landings and came ashore at Juno Beach shortly after D-day.
Near Caen they were constantly in action. One night they were showered with anti-personnel bombs, which set light to vehicles, some of which were carrying 100lb shells. Steff said it sounded like thousands of giant crackers going off.
“What the hell is that?” he asked his signaller. The man replied: “There’s one thing for sure, sir, it’s nay a leaflet raid!” The ammunition had to be offloaded before it blew up and everyone had painful burns to their hands before the job was done.
When it became clear that the Allied forces were not breaking through, the RAF sent in heavy bombers to carpet-bomb the enemy front lines. Bombs from the first wave fell short by about 7,500 yards. The next two waves dropped 2,500 yards, then 1,000 yards, behind Steff ’s position.
“The fourth wave of aircraft with bomb doors open was on its way,” Steff said afterwards, “and we knew that the next few minutes would decide whether we were to live or die.” At this critical moment, the Regiment’s Air OP pilot, flying an Auster light aircraft, realised the danger and flew straight at the lead bomber flashing “own troops” and did not deviate until the bombers started to turn away.
In December 1944, 15 Medium Regiment RA was re-roled as infantry and, having transferred to 65 (Highland) Medium Regiment RA, Steff served with them until the end of the campaign.
He was demobilised in 1946 and for the next 14 years he worked as a building surveyor. From 1960 to 1983 he was sales manager for a company manufacturing industrial machinery.
Settled in Barnet, North London, he helped in the scouting movement for 20 years and eventually became a District Scout Commissioner. He was also a Freemason for 30 years. He played badminton until he was 92 and then took up trampolining. A Freeman of the City of London, in 2017 he was appointed to the Légion d’honneur by the French Ambassador.
Cecil Steff married, in 1951, Doreen Ray. She survives him along with their two sons.