大象传媒

I joined the RAF as an apprentice in 1939 after passing an entrance exam. I ended up at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire for 2 years learning about electronics and radar then passed out in 1942. The germans had tried to invade us but with no success although they had managed to drop an bomb on the runway there. I was sent to St. Athans, near Cardiff in South Wales which was an aerodrome maintenance unit for RAF electrical equipment. Eventually I was sent to Liverpool on a train, ready to be posted overseas but they never told us where we would be going. While I was there I caught some kind of illness and had to go to an isolation ward. I don't remember being that ill but it meant I missed my posting. I was billited in a bed and breakfast in Blackpool for three months then sent to Chigwell to join an air ministry experimental station which had a crew of 15 people including cooks and drivers. Radar was new at the time so no one was sure of its capability. The idea was detect enemy aircraft. Once again I was sent to Liverpool and then sailed to Malta in 1943. German Submarines were still prowling around so we took a circuitous route. We waited there until it was time to join the allies invasion of Italy at Agrigento then waited a day or so for our equipment to join us. We slept in the ope and one night the germans tried to bomb us but missed. The allies boats opened fire and the noise was tremendous. HQ then sent us out into Sicily to scout for enemy aircraft. We even spent time up on Mount Etna. The Germans didn't have many planes in italy as we'd bombed a lot of them. We followed the troops into italy and ended up in Vasto on the East Coast and then torrebruna in the mountains. We stayed there through the winter of 43-44. We were in tents and it was freezing cold. It was very boring and there was no activity as 30 miles away troops were engaged in the battle of Monte Casino. Eventually the 8th Army chased the Germans from their stronghold in the mountains. After that we were ready to chase the Germans out of italy entirely but the American general in charge held the troops back because he wanted to enter Rome with a big victory parade. The Germans managed to recouperate and fought back. We arrived at Casino the day after the battle. It was a terrible scene. The entire area had been razed to the ground and all the trees were blackened. I remember all that was left standing was a bit of a ruined tower. All the bodies had been collected by then and I remember seeing the graves of 2 war correspondents. We then followed the army out of Casino and on to Rome. The hariest part was near Florence. There on a hillside we were surrounded by Germans who were shelling a bridge below us. For 2 days we could hear the shells going over every night. We were very lucky not to get hit. We went on to chase the Germans out of Italy and my unit followed until until we got to Tessera near Venice where we stopped and waited for further instructions. We half a mile from a pub and we used to go and drink there. We used to drink with the german POW's after the war had ended. They were waiting for transport back to Germay. They were all nice except one who was very bitter. He used to insult me in German. One of the prisoners, Karl, became a friend and we ended up visiting him in Munich in the 1960's. I eventually married Regilde Gina Pavan, the daughter of the pub owner, who worked behind the bar.

There are two more photos attached to this story at A5080105 (AMES and the battle for Italy part 2) and A5080349 (AMES and the battle for Italy part 3). A4504033 (Growing Up in Wartime Italy) and A4504079 (An Italian Soldier)are also connected with this story.

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