4539363 L/Sgt William Henry FLETCHER, 1st Bn Green Howards: 02/01/1945, Italy

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum.

I'll kick off seeing as none of the Italian Campaign experts have chipped in yet. I think you may need a copy of his service records, assuming you don't already, these can be applied for through the MoD for a cost of £30. They will confirm all the units he served with during the war amongst other things. The reason I've suggested this is the 1 Green Howards were at Anzio area on the 23rd March when the mountain erupted and Naples is some 140 miles away.

From The Story of the Green Howards 1939-1945 by Synge.

 

From 1 Green Howards War Diary, 23rd March 1944:

 

Mike.

Your father was bang on with 1 GREEN HOWARDS being at the Garigliano. They were there for the X (BR) Corps crossing on the night of 17 Jan 44 although, as part of 15 Infantry Brigade, the Battalion was held back in reserve. As the 5 BR Inf Div assault stalled, 15 Inf Bde were brought up in order to regain the momentum. At that point, the Battalion took and held Minturno up on Minturno Ridge but the Div were unable to get to their final objective: the village of Santa Maria Infanta, so stalemate set in.

He would not have been at Salerno fo the 9 Sep 43 but may have come through there whilst Naples was out of action.

Regards

Frank

 

Hello and welcome to the forum

As Andy said, best thing is to apply for his service records, link below. This is what we tell all new members to do as a starting point. When you have them, you can take it further by getting the war diaries when you are definitely sure it is the 1st Green Howards
https://www.gov.uk/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records

Lesley

 

A friend asked me to forward this to Stevie Mac as he has an interest in the GH however it appears there`s more people interested in the GH so I`m sure my friend wont mind if
I post this in open forum :mellow: Hopefully it will be of interest?

Kyle


http://www.greenhowards.org.uk/dox/Newsletter/1298129066_issue_19.pdf

 

Thanks guys.
Great and informative replies. Now I know a bit more about where to search for info.

One of the few memories my dad mentioned about Minturno was a night attack where they ended up "hunkering down" in whatever cover they could find.. Come the morning light and my dad, with a few others, had spent the night in a crypt... laying next to skeletons, coffins, etc... One guy "lost it" and ran off screaming...

I do get a tad confused about the Green Howards and the East Yorks etc.
I have a pic of my dad.. jeez he looks about 14... and on his shoulder it he has a stripe that says East Yorks... If I remember right he said it was taken when he went to somewhere in the Great Yarmouth area for basic training.

Is there a forum that covers Germany and events up to the end of WWII.. and the next year or so??

 

Hello Mike,

Battallions of the East Yorkshire Regiment and the Green Howards were often brigaded together, for example:

4th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, with the 4th and 5th Bns Green Howards, 150th Infantry Brigade; and
5th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, with the 6th and 7th Bns Green Howards, 69th Infantry Brigade;

- both of 50th (Northumbrian) Division.

In addition, they shared No 5 Infantry Training Centre, at Richmond, North Yorkshire; where the Green Howards depot was located.

As a consequence of the foregoing, men were transferred between the two as needs dictated.

It may be that your dad enlisted into the East Yorkshire Regiment and was later transferred into the Green Howards. Unless he enlisted after the advent of the 'General Service Corps', we should be able to ascertain which regiment he enlisted into by a simple scrutiny of his service number; do you have this? Alternatively, his service records should reveal all; do you have these?

This forum should be able to assist you with all WWII events, so ask away about Germany. Start a new thread if you have a specific/different question that is not covered already and needs particular attention!!!

Best,

Steve.

 

I have my dads service number somewhere. Will dig it out later.

My dad also mentioned another river in Italy.. the Rapido. I'm thinking now that I got the Rapido and the Garigliano mixed up in my earlier post.
I remember my dad saying that the Americans where hit very hard trying to cross a river, could be either the Rapido or Garigliani, and he was appalled at the number of bodies floating by in the fast rushing river.

 

Mike.

The 36 US Inf Div attacked across the Rapido on 20-22 Jan 44 - it was actually the Gari but history has recorded it as the Rapido. That attack was a disaster and accounted for hundreds of American dead. Those bodies would have floated down river to where the Gari joined the Liri to form the Garigliano. From that junction, the Garigliano flowed down to the sea and straight through the X (BR) Corps sector on the coast where 1 GREEN HOWARDS were operating as part of 15 Inf Bde, 5 BR Inf Div.

The river was flowing much faster than usual because the Germans had blown a hydro-electric dam 40km upriver from the X (BR) Corps crossing points. The dam was near the head of the River Liri at a place called San Giovanni Incarico and was blown in a last ditch attempt to wash away the X (BR) Corps pontoon bridges.

Regards

Frank

 

Sorry for the late reply guys.
Good overview of the Rapido battle Minden.
I won't disagree with your comments that the Germans blew a dam... however, got to say that I have never read about that before.. or since..
It was winter.. and one of the worst winters on record... lots of rain, sleet, snow etc.

One thing to consider is.... it's 1944 not 2014.. just how waterproof and warm was the clothing the guys had???

 

Mike.

Sorry, you are absolutely right. My phraseolgy was wrong. The Germans opened the sluice gates up at the San Giovanni Incarico lake. If you go on to Google earth, you wll see it very clearly.

FdeP

 

Hi Tehre

Could you send me some of the info you have or post so as I canb sift thru it?

Regards
Simon

 

Simon.

PM me with your email address and I will send you stuff.

Regards

Frank

 

Hi Frank
My email address is

lostkiwi99(at)gmail.com

Thanks very much mate

Cheers

Simon

 

Hi there ggreg

your Post 18 I noticed that he was transfered into 1 Bn Gh 17.8.1943. This is also the exact same date my Uncle was posted into 1 Bn Gh.

Simon

 

In Post 29 refers to a a soldier going to a camp at San Basilio.

In December 2020 I have reached the conclusion this camp may have been a Corps Reinforcement Unit ( CRU ). CRU was found on: Second World War Abbreviations and Acronyms - Researching WW2

Research to get to this is on: 5 th Bn Northamptonshire Regiment