大象传媒

My name is Albert Pine. I was called up in 1940 and joined the Royal Artillery. I was sent to Worksop, then Sleeford and from there on to Boston. I finished at Liverpool and joined the rest of the soldiers on the boat.

We landed at Durban then on to Cairo where 111 Field Regiment was formed.

Our next stop was Alexandria. we got on a boat and landed up the coast and ended in Tunisia. From there we went on to another boat to Scicily. We were bombed on the way.

We went on several raids on different islands and eventually landed down in Yugoslavia, then back to Italy. We saw a lot of action on the way to Rome.

We were up in the hills in Italy. I was having a shave when I heard shells whistling overhead. I jumped into the lorry - the armoured vehicle as quickly as I could. Nobody was hurt.

One day a German soldier crossed the lines and gave himself up to some Italian civilians. We came along and took over. We did not have any guns with us. We did not bother to carry the guns everywhere because they were heavy.

Towards the end of the war we joined up with the Americans on the way to Rome. They gave us food and we thought it was strange that they ate their sweet on their dinner plate. It was good food though.

While there the war ended and we returned home by boat and train. The boat arrived in England in August 1946. I was sent to Woolwich to get demobbed.

I was safely through the war but my brother Bill was not so lucky. He was on a ship, the HMS Saumarez, the war was over. It hit a mine and all were lost. Bill was 28 and his grave is on a Greek island.

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