Description
Object description
Word-processed transcription of an account entitled 'As it Happened: The Story of One Man's War' (70pp, started June 1995), illustrated with maps of his journeys and some photographs, with brief details about joining the TA (July 1939), a part-time member of 'D' Company, 1/7th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment, using Vickers Machine Guns, call up in Tottenham (September 1939), moving to Aldershot, sneaking home for a final goodbye before embarkation and having to be escorted back on suspicion of desertion, the cold weather in France during the phoney war, fraternisation with the French girls, the German attack, two gun crews getting knocked out, running out of ammunition and disabling the gun (June 1940), dispersing, rowing out to HMS SPEEDWELL near La Panne and Dunkirk, the good reception back in England, having no equipment, moving to Rayleigh, Essex, to protect the Thames, then Woodbridge near Ipswich, his mother becoming an ARP warden and having to shelter during raids when his mum was on duty, moving to Torphins near Aberdeen (c. December 1941), taking up boxing, embarking in a convoy (July 1942), moving to SS STRATHEDEN where his cousin, Doug Patten, was a chef (merchant seaman) so having a better journey, his 22nd birthday off Freetown, Sierra Leone, sailing to Suez, Egypt, via Durban, based in the Qatara depression, attached to 51st (Highland) Division, seeing the Second Battle of El Alamein, promotion to Corporal, being driven into a minefield near the German lines at El Agheila, losing lots of men, losing more men when going to retrieve the dead from the minefield, being mentioned in despatches, arrival in Tripoli, Libya, details of the citation for his award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his actions in the battle of Wadi Akarit, where he was firing his machine gun in support of the Seaforth Highlanders and covered their withdrawal despite losing many men, disabling his gun and being captured by the Germans (April 1943), being taken to a POW camp at Capua near Naples, the conditions, Red Cross parcels, cordial relations with the Italian guards, concert parties, moving to a new camp at San Giovanni-in-Perscieto, the armistice and Italian guards leaving the prisoners (September 1943), German guards taking over and being put on a train, making a run for it when the train stopped, escaping and making his way to the church of St. Nichola in Lagune, in the hills near Bologna, being helped by the priest, Don Mario Bonani, having to hide in the vicinity of the church for three months, characters he met in the church, someone informing on him and the church being searched by German and Italian officers, evading capture by utilising a hiding place in a niche behind a painting, joining two New Zealand ex-pows and a group of Italians hiding the hills, helping the Italian partisans with an ambush of Germans at Vado in the Appenines, being snowed-in in the area of Firenzoula (February 1944), being joined by other ex-pows, his guilt at living off the food of locals, going solo and moving to Castel Delci (April 1944), close calls with German patrols, joining partisans and Americans at Roccastrada, an attempt to rescue prisoners from an Italian fascist gaol, meeting American forces after the fall of Rome and being sent to Naples prior to returning to the UK, meeting his brother Ron in Naples, his brother being attached to an RAMC Field Ambulance blood unit, going AWOL to stay with his brother for a week, and a trip to see Vesuvius, with details of a reunion in 1995 when he returned to Lagune and met with one of his helpers, Antoinetta Stranzani, and quotes from the local newspaper 'Resto del Carlino' about his evasion and the help given by the locals, with throughout details of his movements, local people he had met, entertainment, and his frequent brushes with military authority.
Content description
Word-processed transcription of an account entitled 'As it Happened: The Story of One Man's War' (70pp, started June 1995), illustrated with maps of his journeys and some photographs, with brief details about joining the TA (July 1939), a part-time member of 'D' Company, 1/7th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment, using Vickers Machine Guns, call up in Tottenham (September 1939), moving to Aldershot, sneaking home for a final goodbye before embarkation and having to be escorted back on suspicion of desertion, the cold weather in France during the phoney war, fraternisation with the French girls, the German attack, two gun crews getting knocked out, running out of ammunition and disabling the gun (June 1940), dispersing, rowing out to HMS SPEEDWELL near La Panne and Dunkirk, the good reception back in England, having no equipment, moving to Rayleigh, Essex, to protect the Thames, then Woodbridge near Ipswich, his mother becoming an ARP warden and having to shelter during raids when his mum was on duty, moving to Torphins near Aberdeen (c. December 1941), taking up boxing, embarking in a convoy (July 1942), moving to SS STRATHEDEN where his cousin, Doug Patten, was a chef (merchant seaman) so having a better journey, his 22nd birthday off Freetown, Sierra Leone, sailing to Suez, Egypt, via Durban, based in the Qatara depression, attached to 51st (Highland) Division, seeing the Second Battle of El Alamein, promotion to Corporal, being driven into a minefield near the German lines at El Agheila, losing lots of men, losing more men when going to retrieve the dead from the minefield, being mentioned in despatches, arrival in Tripoli, Libya, details of the citation for his award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his actions in the battle of Wadi Akarit, where he was firing his machine gun in support of the Seaforth Highlanders and covered their withdrawal despite losing many men, disabling his gun and being captured by the Germans (April 1943), being taken to a POW camp at Capua near Naples, the conditions, Red Cross parcels, cordial relations with the Italian guards, concert parties, moving to a new camp at San Giovanni-in-Perscieto, the armistice and Italian guards leaving the prisoners (September 1943), German guards taking over and being put on a train, making a run for it when the train stopped, escaping and making his way to the church of St. Nichola in Lagune, in the hills near Bologna, being helped by the priest, Don Mario Bonani, having to hide in the vicinity of the church for three months, characters he met in the church, someone informing on him and the church being searched by German and Italian officers, evading capture by utilising a hiding place in a niche behind a painting, joining two New Zealand ex-pows and a group of Italians hiding the hills, helping the Italian partisans with an ambush of Germans at Vado in the Appenines, being snowed-in in the area of Firenzoula (February 1944), being joined by other ex-pows, his guilt at living off the food of locals, going solo and moving to Castel Delci (April 1944), close calls with German patrols, joining partisans and Americans at Roccastrada, an attempt to rescue prisoners from an Italian fascist gaol, meeting American forces after the fall of Rome and being sent to Naples prior to returning to the UK, meeting his brother Ron in Naples, his brother being attached to an RAMC Field Ambulance blood unit, going AWOL to stay with his brother for a week, and a trip to see Vesuvius, with details of a reunion in 1995 when he returned to Lagune and met with one of his helpers, Antoinetta Stranzani, and quotes from the local newspaper 'Resto del Carlino' about his evasion and the help given by the locals, with throughout details of his movements, local people he had met, entertainment, and his frequent brushes with military authority.
History note
Cataloguer SJO