Glimpses of war as experienced by me from 1940 to 1945.
These few memories have been written down as clearly recalled. The narratives have not been edited as they are not intended for general public scrutiny. It is not a book and is only intended for family reading.
In the past, many veterans of the First and Second World Wars have failed to put on record war experiences which were well worthy of being made available for posterity. These are a selection of mine.
Two ancient quotes that are worth remembering:-
“War is a terrible thing! But not so terrible
that we should submit to anything to avoid it”
(A Greek Philosopher in the 13th Century)
“Forget your history and you are damned to repeat it”
(A Spanish Philosopher in the 17th Century )
My Images of War – 1942 to 1945
After some thought and prompting, I decided to write down some of my images of war in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy which remain fixed in my memory in the hope that those who read them (especially my family) will realise that today’s freedom had to be fought for and should not be taken for granted. Just remember that 40 million people died world wide as a result of the Second World War.
In writing these memoirs, I am reminded that I was very lucky to be alive at the war’s end and that my post war health was in no way affected by what I saw, did or what happened to me on a number of occasions. My particular periods on the battlefields of Tunisia, Sicily and Italy stretched from November 1942 to May 1945.
Northern Ireland and Scotland – Training from August 1940 to December 1942.
On joining the Army on 1 August 1940, I went to the recruiting office in Enniskillen who promptly passed me on to the main recruiting centre in Omagh. It was my intention to join the Inniskilling Fusiliers – my County Regiment. When I made this request, I was told that recruiting for the Inniskillings and the Ulster Rifles was closed but that a battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers was being formed at Ballykinlar and had vacancies and that I should go there. I was quite staggered at this news; “a nation at war and so soon after the evacuation from Dunkirk” was limiting recruitment to infantry regiments. What appeared to have caused this state of affairs was the fact that the British Government was fully expecting the Germans to invade England and the Government of N. Ireland was urgently recruiting for three Battalions of young soldiers for service in N. Ireland only. These battalions, Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Ulster Rifles and 5th Btn The Royal Irish Fusiliers were hurriedly trained and, by platoons, dispatched to key points around the province.
I was included in a detachment dispatched to a fort at a place called Greypoint on the coast near Bangor where there were 2 x 6” naval guns, which, along with two similar guns on the opposite side at a place called Kilroot near Carrickfergus, were responsible for preventing any hostile ships entering Belfast Lough. In turn, we were to be responsible for the security of the guns and their crews. At that time, all this was very serious stuff indeed and no one had a clue as to what might happen. Many other places around the Province that had to be guarded round the clock were the Government House at Hillsborough, the Viaduct and Railway Station at Bessbrook, Ammunition Dumps, Petrol Dumps etc. During my period in Northern Ireland, I served in Ballykinlar, Greypoint, at Knock in Belfast for a few weeks during which time the German air raids occurred, Hillsborough, Mourn Park near Kilkeel, Scarva and Guilford. I also spent a few weeks with a detachment guarding a radar station near Newtownbutler in Fermanagh.
Some few months after joining up, we discovered that our attestation papers were marked across the top in red with “For Service in N.I. Only”. This meant that there were about 2000 young men in uniform between the ages of 18 and 20 who could have stayed in N.I. for the duration of the war. After the invasion of Russia by Germany during 1941, it became obvious that there would be no invasion of England.
I was appointed to L/Cpl. In 1941 and I made my intentions known that I wanted to transfer to a regular battalion of the Regiment and, in May 1942, I with 3 other L/Cpls were posted to the 1st Battalion then undergoing intensive training in Ayrshire Scotland, we arrived on 13th May and were posted to different Coys. I went to ‘D’ Coy. whose commander was Major John Horsfall M.C. The Battalion were under canvas in a wooded area near the town of old Cumnock.
The 1st Bn. with the 6th Bn. Inniskilling Fusiliers and 2nd Bn. The London Irish Rifles formed the 38th (Irish) Brigade (motorised in the 6th Armoured Division and underwent intensive training for the next six months. I had to work very hard to catch up with the high standards of the Battalion to justify my stripe. Age wise I was several years younger than the average of the Company and must have impressed my superiors as I was promoted to Corporal In September.
The 21 months I served with the Battalion in N. Ireland were not very memorable; the duties we were performing were boring, we were poorly trained, equipped and armed. A phase of my military service that I would rather forget.
In early November 1942, there were strong indicators that the whole 6th Armoured Division was being got ready for overseas. About the 3rd week in November we were sent by train to the Port of Liverpool where we embarked on the troop ship Tegelberg, along with a number of other troop and cargo ships, formed a large convoy guarded by a number of warships, set sail for an unknown destination. We knew that “Operation Torch”, the landings on the coast of N. Africa in the Mediterranean, had occurred and we had a fair idea that was where we were heading. In due course, we arrived on the battlefields of Tunisia near the end of December 1942.
Tunisia – Glimpses of its Battlefields from Dec 1942 to May 1943.
The winter months in Tunisia were not at all a pleasant experience (weather wise) – long cold nights, holed up in a trench on a lonely, barren, rocky hill for up to 12 hours of darkness. The trench was shared with one other, who also shared the watch – two hours on and two hours off. On the 2 hours off, you tried to get some sleep at one end of the trench, wrapped in a blanket. The weather produced periods of rain which was pretty constant for up to 10 days and turned the ground into deep, clingy mud and made movement of tanks and vehicles almost impossible when trying to operate off the main roads. Our trenches filled up with water and all our clothing and blankets became sodden; there wasn’t much you could do about it until the rains ceased. At the end of March, the weather improved considerably with the longer days and shorter nights.
Another aspect of the Tunisia campaign not generally known was that during the winter months of 1942-43, all movement within the forward areas had to be completed during the hours of darkness, because the enemy enjoyed air superiority over the whole front including the Americans. The German airfields were only about 60 miles from the front lines; our bases were 400-500 miles back near Algiers, this meant that our fighter aircraft were limited to just a few minutes over our positions due to the danger of running low on fuel for the return flight. Fighters in the early days of the war had only a flying range of between 800-900 miles.
German “Stuka” Dive bombers were in the habit of bombing our positions, particularly our artillery just behind our forward infantry positions – some times three sorties a day. The bombers were usually escorted by fighter aircraft who would strafe any of our vehicles seen moving in the open. However this state of affairs changed completely in late March 1943 when our fighter aircraft were able to operate from new airstrips constructed much closer to our front line. From April 1943 onwards, enemy aircraft were on the receiving end and were rarely ever seen again.
Sicily – July to August 1943.
A very difficult country for infantry and tanks to operate in due to the steep, rocky and mountainous terrain inland. Weather very hot in the summer; whenever you moved on roads or valleys, you were overlooked from mountain-tops on all sides.
Italy – September 1943 to May 1945.
Italy could be very hot in summer with cold and wet winters, and in the northern mountainous areas – lots of snow. Italy has a number of fast flowing rivers which flow across the country into the sea on either side. Amongst so many, there were the Volturno, Trigno, Sangro, Rapido/Gari/Garigliano and Senio. From October to March each year, these rivers are usually in spate and presented very dangerous and difficult obstacles.
When we were advancing north all the main bridges were destroyed by the retreating Germans, which meant that we would have to mount a major operation to force a crossing and replace the bridges to allow tanks and vehicles to cross. In addition to the rivers there were also a number of mountains blocking our path. Mountain tops had to be secured before the roads in between could be used. The advance up Italy was in the main slow, tortuous and costly – some of the opposed crossings caused very heavy casualties.
The biggest obstacle of all was Monte Cassino with its monastery on its peak and from here the enemy were able to spot our movements for miles and miles in all directions. Cassino held up our advance for 6 months from December 1943 to 18th May 1944. It could not be by-passed because of the nature of the terrain around it and the fact that the main road to Rome and the North (Route 6/Via Casalina) ran through Cassino town. It is estimated that the casualties caused by the 4 battles for Cassino were 110,000 British and commonwealth troops and 80,000 Germans – reminiscent of First World War losses.
When we reached the biggest river of all “The River Po” in the north, the war was at an end – in Italy by the end of May 1945. We were able to sit on the banks in peace and contemplate the horrors of what might have been, had the Germans opposed our crossing. The River Po is much wider and deeper than any of the others.
We quickly shed those perceived horrors and were on our way into Austria where we remained on occupation duties for the next two years until May 1947.
DCM Investiture – 1949
I was awarded the D.C.M. in November 1944, but it was not until July 1949 that I was presented with the Medal by King George VI. The reason for the delay was due to the fact that I had remained abroad after the war.
Whilst serving in Egypt, I was sent home to do two courses, one on Air Portability at Brize Norton and the other a Drill Course at the Guards depot at Caterham.
It was whilst attending these courses that arrangements were made for me to attend an investiture at Buckingham Palace on the 12th July 1949. Brother Tommy and sister Millie flew over from N. Ireland to be my guests at the Palace and witnessed the ceremony.
DCM Citation for Sgt Robert Robinson
Citation dated 9th Nov 1944,rRecommendation made by Lt. Col JH Coldwell-Horsfall. Approved by Field Marshall HR Alexander
“Sgt Robert Robinson has commanded a platoon in action for the past year. His leadership and courage are a constant inspiration to his men. On the night of the 8th October 1944, after having played a conspicuous part in the capture of a feature in the FONTANELICE area, he led a patrol forward to mop up on our front. His ten men bumped an enemy platoon around a house, subsequently found to be held by a company, some 500 yards away from our forward positions and came under fire from MGs and mortars. Sgt Robinson closed with the enemy and with six other Tommy gunners accounted for an enemy section and two other Germans who tried to rush them from a flank.
Sgt Robinson was hit in the head and back by grenade fragments and others of his patrol were wounded by S.A. fire. He then re-organised his force and continued the fight for over an hour and personally saw to the evacuation of the wounded men without any thought of going back himself in spite of his own injuries. Satisfied that all possible had been done Sgt. Robinson organised the withdrawal which was carried out under heavy MG and mortar fire. He personally assisted in carrying other wounded men back and returned with valuable information. His conduct throughout was most gallant and a source of praise amongst his men. His admirable leadership in this action is only equalled by similar conduct in the past. He was subsequently evacuated to hospital but his example and courage remain an inspiration to his men.”