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StanEllis8
Italy and Greece: Monte Cassino.

Hello, my name is Ellis Stanley, Army Service number 2092841. I have written my memoirs of World War Two as I lived it. I served through the war from first day to last, and served as a vehicle mechanic, reaching the rank of Corporal. I was a soldier in the Army firstly in the UK, then in North Africa, and finally in Italy and Greece. After Victory in Europe, I was posted to Italy again until I was returned to Aldershot and demobbed in 1946. These memoirs have been edited to conform to People’s War standards, and are spread over 12 title pages, and cover my service in locations as listed below. They have been transcribed by Andrew Voyce, an Open University graduate.

StanEllis1 UK- The Phoney War part 1
StanEllis2 UK- The Phoney War part 2
StanEllis3 UK- Northern Ireland and preparations for the desert
StanEllis4 North Africa- The journey by troopship and the Battle of El-Alamein
StanEllis5 North Africa- Active service with the Eighth Army
StanEllis6 North Africa- The final defeat of the Afrika Korps
StanEllis7 Italy and Greece- Arrival in Italy and joining the Battle of Monte Cassino
StanEllis8 Italy and Greece- Monte Cassino
StanEllis9 Italy and Greece- Some matters of everyday soldiering
StanEllis10 Italy and Greece- The end of the war for me: Victory in Europe
StanEllis11 Demob- Time after the cessation of hostilities
StanEllis12 Demob- Postscript

Monte Cassino

Daily conditions during the battle:
We relieved- there were already people there, you see- I think it was, in our sector, it was the Americans who were there. (There were a lot of people all heading for the same place.) The only time you could change over was at night. You couldn’t do anything in the daylight because you’d be picked off by the enemy snipers. They could see you, they’d have a go at you. You couldn’t see them, and they had caves, very well defended. It could never be taken as an assault. They found that out by all these big casualties we were taking. So in the end they decided to go round it. Better late than never, as it turned out. Montgomery commanded the Eighth Army, but he was liaising with American commanders. And all these other lot, they had their own commanders. Aussies, New Zealanders, and all that. I think the one overall commander was an American, probably Mark Clark. They got slightly different ideas to what we had, you know. Things were more expendable. As far as we were concerned, that was the end of our active type service. Because, as I say, they were so depleted that they weren’t effective. We were moved to a quieter area. Somebody takes over from your positions. Some of the places were inaccessible by vehicles, in that area, and they had mules. But a lot of the Indians, were used to mules, because they’d had some at home, apparently. Funny things to handle unless you had some knowledge of them. Dozens and dozens of mules, and they used to take the supplies up at night. The Jeeps would go so far, as far as they could, and they’d be transferred on to mules. They were walking up, pretty hazardous operation. I never got up to that so much, thank goodness! The battle lasted months, I think. Two or three months they were there, the Army got stopped there. And they were thinking of ways of trying to take Monte Cassino, and in the end they realised they couldn’t do that, so they went round it. The Americans bombed it to try and eliminate any observation posts there might be in the monastery, so we never did know whether there was anybody in there. They hotly denied it, because it was a religious place, supposed to be sanctuary. I should think they never went in there, but they could be very close to it, which was just as good a view, if you were just outside, somewhere. They could direct their artillery very effectively like that.

Enemy weaponry:
They (the Germans) had field guns, same as we had. They had one multi-purpose gun it was, 88mm gun, and they could use that as a field gun or anti-aircraft. Depending on what shells they put in it. And it was a very effective weapon. It was a long time before we had a gun that was comparable. Well into the war, it was. They had those in most of their fields of fire, wherever. (We were facing fearsome dug-in Tiger tanks which were virtually impossible to penetrate, and fearsome 88mm field guns.) They could take our tanks out, as quick as anything. Only needed one well-placed shell and that was the end of that. It was a terrible sight to see a tank ‘brewing up’ as they called it (on fire with burning fuel after a hit from an 88 or Tiger), either petrol or diesel would go up. Whatever it was it burnt just as quick. These were major problems when we came across them, crumbs, yes! The people observing the action would direct the artillery, try and make progress and protect their soldiers. Also, some places of course were completely inaccessible to vehicles. Mules used to go up there. Used to transport them in six- or eight-tonners, they were. Four wheel drive lorries, in other words. But they all had metal floors. These mules were loaded into the back, when the- if the driver took off a bit sharpish, they’d all go up one end, then if he slowed down they all shot up the other end. I thought, crikey, poor things! Must have been a terrible ordeal for them, you know. But I expect they were glad when they got there, wherever it was they were going.

What it was like after the desert, and the go-anywhere Jeep:
After the desert, it was a terrible place to fight a war. In the desert you could see what was going on, more or less. You could either get on a bit, or go round. You see, in North Africa, if you went for to turn south, as it were, you go right round in a big loop, come in behind the opposing armies. That applied to both sides, of course. I think I was more scared in Italy than I ever was in Africa, because of the fact that it’s closed in on you a bit. Even, as I say, I wasn’t up the front with a rifle, I was trying to keep the transport going. We used to repair under all conditions, to try and keep there, particularly the Jeeps, because they were vital, actually. We’d never have got anywhere without them in Italy. The Jeeps were the right size, and four wheel drive, so they could go more or less anywhere, whether it was mud or whatever it was. They were adapted for getting casualties out- they used to put stretcher racks on them. One or two stretcher racks, either side of the driver. If you see a Jeep, they’re not a very big vehicle, they were fabricated out there, so they could get the casualties out. Of course, you couldn’t be up the front with that, because otherwise it would be taken out by artillery. But most of it was done at night, casualty clearing. Navigation at night was done, only by know-how, really. If there was an attack on, they had guns that were firing tracer bullets, so there’s a line of bullets going ahead, and that’s what they had to follow, if they could. That was the guide, so they got some idea; they couldn’t get too lost anyway, they used to keep them ‘going away’ to give a guide of which direction they were supposed to be going- because you’d get disorientated in the dark. Can’t you- you’d be going the wrong way, quite easily, I should think. As far as I know, vehicles didn’t have any lights at all (not even slits). (It must have been very difficult to get around)- but based on their memory of the terrain, from previous goes up there, (it could be done). Then at first light, you’d know where you’d got to, know where you’d gone wrong. When it got light, of course, the German gunners were up and about, and anything that moved, they shot at! Of course, we used to come across vehicles of various other units, the Jeeps that had just been abandoned. Fire had got so intense, people had just left ‘em. We used to take them over, because they were a valuable asset, a spare Jeep. One of our REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) blokes was a brave sort of person, and he used to specialise in getting these vehicles back into, to our use. We had Polish Jeeps…not really allowed, but we kept ‘em until somebody insisted that we hand it back in. All the Jeeps were made in America, either Willis or Ford- some were Fords, and some were Willis. They had developed the vehicle, initially. They were painted dark khaki, they might have different insignia on them, but they all had the one main one, that was recognised by all the Allies, the star with the circle.

¹ó´Ç´Ç»å…
It wasn’t so dangerous for us, because we were further back than the infantry. I think once it got daylight, we had to keep our heads down all day. It was such a stress, what work we had to do, we could probably get on and do now, being not all that visible to the enemy. In action, rations were dished out; food, biscuits, you know, bully beef, biscuits, and that was in units of about ten or fifteen men. You made your own arrangements then. You had these tins. At times you didn’t have time to stop and eat- you couldn’t. You did brew up, but it was a bit hazardous lighting a fire to boil water because you became a target. But- a tin of corned beef was the same as we get now. That was fifteen men’s rations! For twenty-four hours. Doesn’t sound much, does it? But there were biscuits that went with it, but that was the actual meat ration. You joined your unit of ten and shared it all out, did your best with it. You used to perhaps sometimes break up all the biscuits, soak them in water, and then add your ration of corned beef, cook it all up. It was a proper mess really, because most people would have been sick when they looked at it. But when you’re hungry, you eat it, you see. This went on at Cassino for many weeks, did that in the desert as well. Similar sort of arrangement.

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