大象传媒

Enemy long-range guns shelled Nettuno and some of the B Echelon areas. They blew up some ammunition in a wood and killed a sentry of the first division. On Monday 3rd April 1944 our battalion again moved up into the line, this time to take over from the RSF鈥檚 in the 鈥淔ortress鈥� area. My detachment did not go up until the next day. When the battalion moved up, two were killed and eleven wounded by enemy mortar bombs. We moved into 鈥淢ortar Wadi鈥� and fresh gunpits and built dugouts. That night Ern and I had to take 鈥淒on 5鈥� sets up to battalion HQ. A path ran along the top of the wadi, it was marked with white tapes to follow in the dark. Beyond were coils of barbed wire and then a flat open field. The whole area was covered by German spandaus on fixed lines. At night they fired them at irregular intervals, sometimes singly, sometimes two or three at once in sweeping arcs. You had to wait until they paused and then dash like mad and hope to drop down safely before they opened up again. After a very scary journey we finally arrived at HQ, we then had to do it all again on the return. That journey seemed like forever. Lt Black was killed and six others wounded that day when battalion HQ was attacked. Pte 鈥淢onk鈥� Thomas of the Signal Platoon was killed by a mortar bomb in the field we had just crossed. We fired our mortars on five targets the next day. We gave support to patrols and put down harassing fire. During a lull in the firing I managed to write a few lines home. Our RA also was active and so were the enemy.

On Good Friday, 7th April 1944, we engaged two targets and put down harassing fire. Our gun alone fired over 50 bombs. The Germans replied and tried to reach us with their mortars, but even though a few bombs fell fairly close, no damage was done and there were no casualties. Reg Holton of the Signal platoon was killed and Bill Bailey of our platoon was wounded at Battalion HQ that day. After dark enemy planes came over and straffed the wadi鈥檚, Ack 鈥擜ck guns brought one of them down. On Saturday 8th April 1944 the German 105鈥檚 gave us three heavy barrages and some shells fell in the wadi. We lost over 100 bombs when a shell exploded in one of our ammunition pits. We were forced to keep in the dugouts until it had died down. By this time there were several small fires in the wadi and a cloud of smoke from exploding smoke bombs. We put the fires out as quickly as we could to prevent it spreading . Young Lofty Lambird of our platoon was killed that night while he was following the white tapes on the track above on his way up to battalion HQ. He was with a ration party when he was hit by spandau bullets.

Easter Sunday was very quiet, but it rained all day. The next morning it cleared and we gave harassing fire from all four mortars. On Tuesday 11th April 1944 German 88mm sent over a barrage in the morning and in the afternoon we fired all four mortars again for two hours on eight targets. We fired 320 bombs that afternoon. The battalion was relieved that night by the RSF鈥檚, but we of the mortar platoon had to stay on until early the next morning. We went back to B Echelon and during that afternoon several enemy planes came over. For a while all hell let loose as Ack-Ack shells burst in the sky, planes screamed and dived as the shells burst around them. We could see it all from our dugouts in the sand. At least three planes were destroyed and two barrage balloons burst into flames. I don鈥檛 know what damage the enemy planes did, but we heard several bombs explode and saw four explode on the sands close to the sea. Even the Corvettes and other ships patrolling the harbour opened up on the planes as they came over. We had very little to do over the next two days, I received some letters and went with a few of the lads to see a concert party given by Divisional RASC. It was called 鈥淭he Waggoners鈥� and we all enjoyed it, as it was a very good show, better than some of the ENSA shows we had seen. A small party of lads from the battalion went from B Echelon to Salerno for four days鈥� leave. I went up to Nettuno to help unload their kit, and while we were there a few shells landed in the town but did hardly any damage. On Saturday 15th April 1944 I had a good wash down in the morning and helped load up kit on the carriers. We moved up into the front line again, this time to relieve the Green Howards. This time our gun positions were on the beaches. I was only up there for about two hours when they sent me back to B Echelon to go on the next leave party to Salerno. I did not want to go as I hated leaving my pals when we were up in the line, but Captain Drew and Gilb Mullins said it was time I had a spot of leave, so I had to go.

The next day I had a FIF1, packed by kit and drew some cash. The next morning I left B Echelon with the rest of the leave party and we embarked on the LCI at 10am. The sea was quite rough so I got my head down on my bunk and slept most of the day. We pulled into Pozzuoli at 9pm and stayed there all night as the seas were very rough. This annoyed a lot of the chaps as they were itching to get off the boat. We left Pozzuoli early in the morning and pulled into Naples for half an hour. The weather had improved and the sea was much calmer. At 1.30pm we passed the Isle of Capri and at 2.30pm we arrived at Salerno. We soon disembarked and got into trucks for the leave hostel. I had a meal and then went out to look around the town. The roads were covered in a grey ash from mount versuvius which had erupted a few days earlier. I would have enjoyed my leave more if someone else from our platoon had come with me so that we could have gone around together. As it was I went around with a lad from on of the rifle companies. I had never met him before, but we got on very well together. In the evening we met up with two more of the lads and we all went along to a wine shop in town. We had a bottle of Marsala, a couple of bottles of Spumanti, some Vino Rosso and a few glasses of Vermouth. We sat swapping yarns and smoking and drinking until it was time for us to get back to the hostel and to bed. We had tea in bed the next morning and I got up just in time for breakfast which was very good and plentiful. After breakfast I had a wash and shave and had my photo taken. I also put two rolls of film in for developing when I was in town. While looking in the shops I saw some gift boxes of oranges, lemons, mixed nuts and sugar almonds, so I bought three boxes and sent them home to England. In the evening I went with my new pal to the ENSA cinema to see Mickey Rooney in 鈥淕irl Crazy鈥�. The next morning I posted my parcels at the ARMY post office and spent a few hours strolling around town. I went for a drink on the seafront and listened to an Italian orchestra playing waltzes and Italian classics. My pal and I went to see another film in the evening, it was called 鈥淎bove Suspicion鈥�.

On Friday 21st April 1944 I had a shave and haircut in a salon on the seafront, then went along to collect my photos. After dinner I had a lay down on my bed and fell asleep until tea-time. My pal and I went along to the NAAFI and on to the cinema again to see 鈥淭he Foreman Went To France鈥� and 鈥淭he More The Merrier鈥�. When we came out of the cinema we met up with three more lads and they were real bright sparks. We went along to the same wine shop that we visited on our first night. It was close to the hostel so that if you did get a bit tight, you hadn鈥檛 far to crawl to get back to bed. We only stayed there a short while as they had sold out of all the good drinks. We had one bottle of Marsala and some Red and White Vino. The red Vino was so rough we didn鈥檛 drink it. We all decided to go for a stroll along the sea front to see if we could find any local talent. We did, and some were very shapely too. What a laugh we had trying to make them understand what we wanted. When we got back to the hostel we didn鈥檛 go to sleep for a long time. We sat on the beds smoking and yarning and having a damned good laugh. It must have been nearly 3am before I finally fell asleep.

On Saturday 22nd April 1944 we packed up our kit and had a wash and shave. After breakfast we got onto the trucks and went down to the docks and boarded the CCI鈥檚 at 10am. As soon as we were all aboard, we set sail for Pozzuoli. We had to stop for about twenty minutes before we even got out of the harbour because a chap from the Inniskillins jumped overboard and swam for shore. He had been drinking, but was a very strong swimmer. We were quite a way from the shore and the sea was a bit choppy but he made for a breakwater and got there just about exhausted. Meanwhile the captain of our ship flashed a message to shore and a Naval speedboat put out and picked him up and returned him to our ship. We carried on to Pozzuoli and arrived there at 6pm. We were back at Nettuno at 8am and at B Echelon at 9am where after a wash and shave, I wrote a couple of letters.

I did not return to my platoon the next day, I was cutting turfs and putting them on dugouts. In the evening I went up to battalion HQ to guard duty. On the way up I picked up several enemy propaganda leaflets. It was a quiet night and our sentry posts were in concrete pillboxes with slits facing enemy lines. The time dragged as we were on single sentry to each pillbox and could not talk to each other. After stand down the next morning we went back to B Echelon and in the evening we were returned to our platoons or companies. I was very happy to be back with all my mates again. Bill Blackett had been wounded while I was away, and the command post had been badly damaged by a direct hit from a shell. Fortunately none of the occupants were hurt. Dick Whittington was very slightly cut by a tiny piece of shrapnal on his chest. He had everyone laughing, including Captain Drew and all the NCO鈥檚, telling us all about the War Office telegram to his mum saying 鈥淲ounded in action, but remained on duty鈥�. I cannot recall who was on guard duty with me that night, but I know one of us had to patrol the whole area while the other had to stand just outside the command post to answer the field telephone if it rang. I chose to patrol the area as I found time passed more quickly. It was a bright moonlit night and its reflection on the sea was very beautiful, like a cloth of gold. The enemy positions were on the other side. I walked through a mass of Juniper bushes and looked out over a field. Beyond this was a thick wooded area held by the enemy. I stood gazing at this wood for a while to see if I could see any movement, but all was quiet, so I made my way back to the command post.

It was very quiet the next day, we had a NAAFI issue and some airmail letter cards. We patched up our gunpits and prepared 200 bombs per mortar to fire at night. After dark we fired them all within half an hour. On 27th April 1944 another 300 bombs came up and we had to prepare them and put them in pits dug in the sand. I went up to the OP with Cpl Archie Compton. It was a lovely warm day and the OP was shaded by trees. I could see the wood held by the enemy much better from here, and with field glasses I could see some burnt out enemy trucks on the edge of this wood. We left the OP at 5pm and went back to our gunpits and at 6pm we fired our mortars again. A few enemy shells came back in retaliation, but did no damage. On Saturday 29th April 1944 I took all my clothes down to a stream of fresh water which ran into the sea. First I had a nice bath and put on a pair of clean underpants then I started to wash all the clothes. I had nearly finished when enemy shells started to fall and explode on the track above the beach which was used by jeeps and trucks to bring up supplies from Nettuno. I left my clothes by the stream and took cover under a bank of earth below the track. It wasn鈥檛 very safe here really as large lumps of earth, stones and even pieces of shrapnel fell down from the track if a shell fell nearby. As soon as the shelling ceased I went back and finished my washing and took it all back to the dugout. We fired the mortars again in the evening but got no reply from the enemy. On guard that night, I again patrolled the area and went out through the juniper bushes into the open field beyond. This time I got a bit of a surprise. I think a German sentry must have seen me because as soon as I was in the open field they sent over some small mortar bombs. I think they were 2inch mortars as the explosions were not very powerful. I nipped back into the Junipers and made my way back to the command post.

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