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Called up to the East Surreys at the end of 1941, Ken was engaged mostly on guard duties: in Fishguard, where there was a large ammunition dump, and in Northern Ireland on detachment to the Royal Irish Fusiliers. At this time, Ken was medically graded B1 and ineligible for overseas service because of an earlier hernia, but when his regiment were due to leave for North Africa without him, he applied successfully for an A1 category and left with his comrades. From Tunisia they went to Egypt for battle training in the Canal Zone, prior to joining the Italian campaign. It was here, at Casino, that Ken’s unit were involved in the bloodiest battle of the theatre. He remembers most vividly how, moving north, they strayed into a minefield. Several were killed and one incident left itself indelibly on his memory: a young soldier who had lied about his age to enlist, was lying with both legs blown off — singing. They had to move on and leave him for the medics without ever learning his fate. After advancing past Rome and on to the Lombardy Plain, the campaign ended at Rimini and there, at peace once more, Ken might have expected to be rewarded with a home posting. But no, civil war had broken out in Greece and there they went to hold the line for democracy. They found a more elusive but no less deadly foe. As Ken recalls, you could clear a street and by the time you got to the end of it, the fighting had started again at the other end. It was 1946 before his demob number finally came up and brought an end to the longest four years of his life.

This story was donated by Norman Wilson and Andrew McCloy, and was submitted to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk. The author has given his permission and fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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