I recently found the date when my Dad was wounded on 6th July 1944. Would anyone know exactly where the 2nd Battalion KLR were serving on that date please ?
They took Tuori. From the 4th Divisional history by Williamson. Edit. See this thread too. 2nd BN King's Regiment (Liverpool) POW Italy 29th July 1944
I have studied 4 Infantry Division’s time in the Val di Chiana in some detail. Get me through my website and I will happily share with you what I have. Regards Frank www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk
Gill. 6 Jul 44 is very shortly after 2 KINGS were one of the assault river crossing battalions in the Fourth Battle of Cassino in May 44. Do you know if he was in the battalion in May 44 or was he a replacement for the losses that they suffered during the river crossing. The battalion had a really rough time of it. Regards Frank
From the Story of the King's Regiment 1914-1948 by Lt-colonel J.J. Burke-Gaffney, some pages describing 2KLR and their experiences. Hope they are of use to you going forward:
Sorry ! I assume he was in 2nd Kings in May 44.,I know he was At Cassino. He enlisted in 8th Irish KLR 1940 . I have never sent for his records because as a child he told me it wasn’t something for little girls to know about . and never spoke of his experiences apart from the fact he had seen Mussolini hanged. He never accepted his medals but allowed me to send for them ,they are now with our eldest Grandson .
Gill. I would be surprised if he saw Mussolini hanging from the Esso garage in Milan - 2 KINGS were in Greece at the time. No wonder he did not want to discuss his experience - his time at Cassino was ghastly - 2 KINGS were badly mauled including their Commanding Officer who was killed. Regards Frank
Hi Gill If it does turn out that your father was in Greece. I have the 2 King's war diaries from December 44 and January 45. If you would like a copy start a conversation with me and include your email address.. Bamboo43, is there any chance you could post the Greece chapter of the book here too? It is a very rare book. Gus
Thank you all so much I have been a member of this forum for ‘donkeys years’ but had trouble logging in so had to re apply. Frank you are correct it would have been impossible for him to have witnessed Mussolini hanging. After being wounded he was sent to hospital in Sicily . He did serve in Greece and received the Italy and Greek Star,I have an official photograph communication he sent to my cousin from Athens. We used to have a photo of him dressed in the ceremonial uniform of a Greek soldier, sadly it was lost when my Mum lost her mind to dementia. Also he appeared in a Pathé news film feeding children in Athens ,I have never been able to find it . By a weird coincidence some years ago at a WFA meeting I met a gentleman Tony Moore who was sporting an MCV tie.I told him my Dad served at Cassino with 8th Irish KLR he told me that wasn’t possible . He asked me my Dads name and I gave him his surname to which he replied ‘not Les ‘,and told me they were the 2nd Battalion. It appeared that he was with my Dad when he was hit by a sniper , it was Tony’s birthday and when my Dad was carted off Tony took the half bottle of whisky that was in my Dads pack . Thanks to a freebie week from ‘Find my Past’ I was able to find the record of his wounding. I now live in Normandie and find it so sad that with all the commemoration /celebration going on at the moment our DDay Dodgers have never received this aclaim. However my Dad would have hated all the fuss Thank you for all the really informative information Gill .
Hi Gill The ceremonial uniform would have probably been of the Evzones. They guard the eternal flame. The Italy Star was the official medal awarded by the UK for services in Greece. The Greeks also gave out a commemorative medal sometime later. This has a clip at 03.30 of a soldier feeding children. Please be warned this video is quite gruesome in places. In case you don't want to watch. Here is a screengrab. The only other video I found of soup kitchens was probably of 2 HLI as the commentary describes them as "coming from a highland regiment" Hope this helps Gus
Thank you ,that’s exactly the one . I have asked all remaining family to see if they have a copy but no luck so far . Thank you for going to so much trouble ,it’s appreciated Gill.
Gill. It was absolutely wonderful of the Duchess of Edinburgh to be the UK’s official representative at the 80th Anniversary of the end of the battles of Cassino but it really should have been HM The King. The Italian Campaign should be on a par with the Normandy landings and not always playing second fiddle to it. Interestingly, I stood on the 2 KINGS crossing point at Cassino only two weeks ago. Regards Frank
Thank you Frank my sentiments exactly. Tomorrow we will be at the British Normandy Memorial remembering a cousin (whom I never knew) ,a young lad of 20 yrs who never returned to Liverpool .
