[Ron Goldstein]

Hi 1945Welch


A little more background to the Argenta Gap story that I remember posting on another forum.

The date, as near as I can get it, was the 18th of April 1945, just a few weeks before the end of hostilities in Europe.

My unit was the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/03/a2310003.shtml
which, at that moment in time, was part of the "Kangaroo Army" of the 2nd Armoured Brigade. For the past few weeks we had been moving relatively slowly through a landscape that consisted of hills and rivers. Suddenly we came to the Argenta Gap and immediately it was 'pierced' we were able to see the plains and nothing seemed to stand in the way of our advance.

The order must have been given 'Brigade, in open order, Advance!' because all the vehicles in the column (which included my own “Honey” tank) literally fanned out into one straight long line and it was the most wonderful sight that I had ever seen in my (then) short life.

With coloured Squadron pennants flying from our aerial masts and with some of the tank crews even firing pistol shots into the air (a la the old cowboy films) we raced forward at high speed, relatively un-obstructed by an enemy who by that time must have realised that the Italian campaign was almost over for them.

It is sixty two years since I experienced this event and yet it still raises the hair on the back of my neck!

ps
As Wikipedia puts it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Argenta_Gap
"By the 18th the battle for the Argenta Gap was over, and much of the retreating German force had been destroyed before it could retreat across the Po River".

Good luck with your research

Ron