大象传媒

The following is the 4th installment of the Memories of my Uncle Jim who served in the 1st and 8th Army, who as agreed that they may be posted.

CHAPTER FOUR

SICILY

The last ten days before we sailed for Sicily on 23rd July were spent at Sousse. It was hot and sticky and the sea was alive with jellyfish. Some of the lads got badly stung. I have never forgotten Sousse.

I didn鈥檛 realise that we would be moving so soon, so borrowed the despatch rider鈥檚 motor bike and went up the road to an Arab village to get some eggs. On my return the Battalion had gone and so had my small pack. They had gone to the docks, so with a bit of luck I caught up with them. They were getting on a tank landing craft. I didn鈥檛 have a chance to give the Despatch Rider his bike back so I had to take it on myself. The next think I know the bike and I are in the dock, and we both went down to the bottom. Of course the lads up on the deck cheered. They thought they were getting shut of a sergeant. The ship鈥檚 Captain put it over the Tannoy that one Fusilier was trying to get to Sicily the hard way. A diver had to go down and get the bike, and when it was back on board the fitters got to work on it. Funnily enough it started.

When we got to Syracuse where we landed, the ramp went down the transport etc shot off up the beach and the motor bike wouldn鈥檛 start. So I had to push it up the beach, sweating and swearing. By this time the Battalion had gone. I eventually got it started and said to myself 鈥淵ou鈥檒l go that fast that you鈥檒l free wheel as far as I want to go鈥�. I soon caught up, looking like a ghost covered in white dust.

By the time the Battalion landed in Sicily a third of the island was in Allied hands, but that didn鈥檛 mean that there was nothing for the Inniskillings to do. They were never that lucky. Like Africa, there were plenty of hills as we called them, but really they were mountains. And like Africa the Battalion took the hills and again needed mules.

A night march over the hills on the 30th and 31st July 1943 brought us overlooking a place called Catenanuova, which was being taken by another Brigade in the Division. Many that night heard and saw shots fired in anger for the first time, as they had joined us as reinforcements to make up for the lades killed and wounded in Africa.

On 2nd August the Irish Brigade was ordered to advance on a place called Centuripe which was thought to have been captured during the night. Centuripe was a fair-sized town right at the top of a steep hill 2,000 feet high, and only one road to it. A truck had to shunt to get round the bends. The battalion, less S Company which thankfully I was a member of, advanced60,000 yards with a climb of 2,000 feet. The tracks were too bad for mules so the lads had to carry everything 鈥� wireless sets, ammunition, platoon weapons. Each man had a tin of bully and a packet of biscuits rolled in his gas cape. They had to manage without water and rations, tools to dig in with and without support from S Company. Oh lucky day when I left a rifle company to join the anti-tank platoon!

When General Montgomery was shown what the 6th Skins had done he said 鈥淣o-one else in my army would have done it.鈥� When it was taken S Company could get up the one road in. S Company was comprised of six-pounder anti-tank guns and when we couldn鈥檛 use them we had other jobs to do, such as assisting rifle companies and muleteering 鈥� more about that later. Also the 3 inch mortars, Vickers鈥� machine guns and other supporting arms which needed transport to move about.

One part of Centuripe was a sheer drop into the valley and had some railings. Some of our wounded were shown propped up against these railings in one of the national newspapers, and of course my mother saw it and was convinced 鈥渙ur Jim was one of them鈥�. I should be called Lucky Jim because I came through three campaigns without being wounded when some of the lads were hit more than once. From here a few names come to mind: Adrano, Bronte, Mallets, Randazzo, La Nove, Baggiorazzo.

We finished up at the bottom of Mount Etna. You could see this smoking from nearly everywhere on the island. I went with an advance party to prepare a camp near the sea shore. It was great bathing in the sea. Tents were pitched in a grape field, just put your hand out of the tent to get a bunch of grapes and being one of the first there I helped myself to the best and biggest black grapes from the vine against the house. Also while in Sicily we had loads of tomatoes which grew in the fields, figs, pomegranates, nuts and apples.

I think I鈥檓 right when I say that the campaign only lasted eight weeks and there were more malaria cases than battle casualties. This doesn鈥檛 mean that it was an easy war. It means that 78th Division, and the 38th Irish Brigade in particular, were keeping up the fighting traditions of the Irish Regiments.

In the latter part of September we left Messina, the riflemen going by tank landing craft to land at Taranto in Italy, with the pipers playing on the crossing. We of S Company, with the Transport crossed the Straits of Messina and landed in Regio at the Toe of Italy and went by road and sea to Taranto. This was the time Italy surrendered. This made no difference to the war 鈥� the Germans still carried on.

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