Italy

Operation Shingle: Chapter 6

The Allied force now facing the German defenders on the Cassino front was truly international; the US on...

Reg's War: One Man and the War

In July 1942 we went by train to Glasgow and boarded an American banana boat at Gourock, we were seven...

Total Chaos in St. Peter's — Sixty-One Years Ago

The scenes inside and outside St. Peter's in Rome during the passing of Pope John-Paul II and the...

Italy Part 2; Salerno and Beyond

It turned out that a German armoured car had come on patrol but had returned again seeing another of our...

My Experience in WWII

At one point, when taking refuge in a field hospital from German tanks outside Tunis, I was introduced to...

RAPC visit to Sicily

We were taken from Valetta to Catania on an Italian destroyer then under the command of the Royal Navy......

Recollections of a Gunner on the Anzio Beachhead

Sounds, sharp in lower ambient, escort the night's advance; The thud of shells from rumbling guns,...

Memories of Arthur Turner: Part 2: With 7th Armoured Division

In middle of a forest with all its trees, so Royal Engineers came sawed the trees down which then became...

Lighter Moments of an RAF Mechanic

It was usual every evening for five or six vehicles to take the Italian workers home to their villages, the...

Oxs and Bucks at Anzio

World War 2 experiences submitted on behalf of William Ernest Heard, who was a Sergeant in the 7th...

HMS Sirius and Seven Invasions

The invasion went very well because many of the French in N. Africa were prepared to fight the Germans. The...

Wartime Memories: At War in Italy

We had several Smith's - one we called Smiddy, one Smidge and one Spud on account of his aversion to...

Florence 1945: Ruin and Rebirth

In Rome I had the option of 'leave centres' at Aquino or Florence. Renaissance continued when,...

Henry Rock's War: RASC in North Africa and Italy

200 of us left Hereford Station early one morning and proceeded to Sheffield where I spent three days...

From Chodel in Poland to Monte Cassino PART 2

After heavy fighting on the 17th of May 1944 Polish soldiers conquered German forces and raised the Polish...

The Secret Wartime Journal of Frederick Jude - Part 5 - A Graceful Homecoming

My youngest sister nursing at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford had become engaged to John Gillingham,...

The War Ends in Italy, 2nd May 1945

At any one time there were only four men on actual guard around the perimeter, one patrolling the railway...

The Hell of Monte Cassino

The Germans had thought no one could get through, the terrain was so mountainous, but the Indians could....

What Did You Do In The War Daddy? -Part 10 (Chapter 11 first part)

By this time the main army had crossed to the mainland of Italy and as the Allies had gained almost...

"Partisani"

So we sang, “We are the D Day Dodgers out in Italy Always on the Vino Always on the spree We landed...

"Partisani"

So we sang, “We are the D Day Dodgers out in Italy Always on the Vino Always on the spree We landed...

Come Back to Sorrento

The orchestras usually comprised four musicians - a violinist, a trumpeter, a piano-accordionist and a...

The Fright of My Life

Not being fired on and not hearing any movement of any sort, I told Lew that we had a chance, as the...

Rome 1945: The Muscle Factory

From the layout and from some of the buildings I deduced that the aim was to reproduce the interiors of...

"That's Amore"

I am a Methodist by religion while the wife was Catholic but that was sorted out, but permission to marry...

Transformation from Gunner to Trooper

This turned out to be in Rieti in the exact centre of Italy, and I spent the following three months...