The following is an excerpt of (censored) letter to "Northampton News" (Post Office Newsletter) from Bombardier 1058316 Jim Norris, 24 Field Regt, R.A. in Italy, late 1944, shortly before he was killed on 4/12/1944. Jim was a regular pre-war who became a postman in 1939 and was soon recalled to the colours. Since I last wrote I have been on some interesting and tedious journies which eventually brought us face to face with our old adversary - Tedesci (sic) We realise that since that great achievement of the Allied Armies in France, we in Italy have been pushed into the background a little but I am going to say right now that no Army in the whole world has ever had to face such difficulties as those our Generals have had. All my life if a man says "I served in the infantry in the Italian Campaign", I shall say: "Pal, What are you drinking?". If ever any men had the right to say they were browned off, those men are in the infantry. I have been a member of an S.P. gun crew and though we usually operate well behind them, we have at times been up with them and on one occasion we were in front. That was at Anzio; I swore that the infantry should get a special campaign medal; he is the man that has to meet the enemy face to face. As I write this there is a terrible din going on among the grape vines of the Lombardy Plains. Our planes are dive-bombing his forward troops relentlessly. Our bren gunners are opening up every minute or so. The horrible whine of his sobbing sisters shatters the air. I believe that sound is the most horrible of all. Every time they open up I gnash my teeth and curse because we can see them falling on our infantry positions. Gerry is a crafty old fox but he is being pushed steadily back. His Gothic Line was a tough proposition. It is a marvel he was ever ousted out at all. Pay tribute to the infantrymen for getting them out. As I passed by one of his Panther turret strong points, I saw chalked "Captured by Cpl............Infantry Regt." Said I to my comrades: "The Infantry has done it again." "Aye" said our Yorkshire Sergeant,"They are t'lads." Rat-tat-tat, the bren guns are at it again. The spandau replies in short bursts, his artillery is silent, perhaps he is making another strategic withdrawal. We shall soon know. The planes are going in again, four spitfires, down they go, hell for leather - are they all up safely? Yes, here they come, heading for our lines. They have given them hell! One thing, the prophecy Mr Churchill made about Italy in 1940 when Musso attacked us, has come true. Italy has paid the price, she has paid in full. Never in all history has one country suffered so much destruction. It is appalling. Roll on that blessed day when I can come back to my native land but the task is not yet complete. No relaxing anywhere must be permitted. I shall have to write another long letter soon as airmails are scarce, only one a week. We have been extremely busy of late forging a way through the Gothic Line. What a line it was, no sooner had one strong point been liquidated than another and another barred the way. I have nothing but the highest praise for our infantry, who have to take these positions in fierce fighting. All the way up Italy you will see the signs of these struggles, let us therefore praise them, and remember those they leave at home. The grand advance of the boys in France has made our own campaign look small in comparison but the ring around Germany gets smaller and, whoever gets to Berlin first, will have our best wishes. https://picasaweb.google.com/uptodat/NorthamptonNewsNorthamptonPostOfficeNewslettersOfWW2#5660492363206700290 Bdr Norris' Memorial ref V, A, 1. Cesena War Cemetery. C.W.G.C.: "Most of those buried in this cemetery died during the advance from Rimini to Forli and beyond in September-November 1944, an advance across one flooded river after another in atrocious autumn weather. The cemetery site was selected in November 1944 and burials were brought in from the surrounding battlefields. Cesena War Cemetery contains 775 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War."
Dave T More than one forum member as well as a now dwindling few Vets who were alongside the PBI did much the same suffering in those days near that area and this particular Vet managed to escape the worst of that winter as he was esconced in a very clean hospital bed way down in Catania Sicily..after falling foul of an 88mm.. But can wholeheartedly agree with the letter sent from the Cesena area and recalling that there are seven cemeteries - witness to the ferocity of the Gothic Line Battles where we lost some 14,000 men - mostly PBI- especially around the Coriano Ridge WE can never repay their efforts Cheers
Speaking as an ex-Gunner who drifted into the Armoured Corps I believe I can safely speak for all non-Infantry men when I say that we had (and have) nothing but complete admiration and respect for the PBI. However near to the enemy that we were at times, it was always fairly safe to assume that there were other poor bxxxxxxs in front of us without the benefits of civilised life and even in my "later life" as a Tankie I usually found this to be the norm. Thanks Dave for an excellent posting Ron
I'm glad folk have found Jim Norris' letter interesting. Here is a tanky's story from the same source and the same time and place. An excerpt of a letter to "Northampton News" (Post Office Newsletter) in January 1945 from Cpl Ralph Dawkins, unit not known, C.M.F. You know how many rivers and streams there are in this country and that a lot of our trouble is making bridgeheads across them. I was in one recently and a queer thing happened. Our troop had just taken a house from Jerry and I put the tank I was commanding in a firing position, with protection on three sides, and the nose and gun just poking round the corner. There was a lot of shelling and when it got dark, the infantry had taken positions in front, so we were having a snooze in our seats. The big gun was loaded and I was leaning on it half asleep. There was a tremendous crash and banks of smoke, we had been hit dead centre on the front with H.E. Not only did it strip all the food boxes off the front, but it took off all the metal fixings, including the front machine gun, fired the big gun on which I was half asleep and fastened the driver's lid, so that he could not get out. No one was hurt. I was sorry to see that Tommy Rice was burned. (Referring to a fellow tanker badly wounded in Italy when his tank brewed up.) and hope he is getting on O.K. now. Thank you for the Christmas Airgraph, which I hope will be the last you have to send. I am now in a decent billet with a nice spring bed and mattress, and were are having a bit of a rest, which we are all hoping will last over Xmas. There is a bit of correspondence in the papers from other tank men about the urgent need to put British diesel engines in tanks to avoid gasoline burns as suffered by Tommy Rice. I imagine they are talking about Shermans.
Dave T - I would also imagine that he was talking about Shermans as they tended to light first time- so if he was hit directly by HE which wiped out his front gun but caused no casualties I would suspect he was in a Churchill so he would be in either 21st or 25th Tank Bde
I can only claim credit for transcribing the words of these Northampton Post Office Men. I'll add more occasionally. It is possible to view the original scanned images of newsletter pages at Picasa Web Albums - Uptodat - "Northampton ... I believe the material deserves a wider readership. Much is routine chat amongst former colleagues but there are some very vivid and moving pieces too.
Remembered Hardingstone War Memorial,Northamptonshire. NORRIS, JAMES Rank: Bombardier Service No: 1058316 Date of Death: 04/12/1944 Age: 38 Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery 24 Field Regt. Grave Reference V, A, 1. Cemetery CESENA WAR CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of Joseph and Annie Norris, of Hardingstone, Northamptonshire; husband of Violet Norris, of Hardingstone.
Hello I just registered on the forum to say thank you for posting this, I came across it quite by accident. James Norris was my great uncle - brother of my pap Norris (my great grandfather) If I travel to Italy I will visit his war grave. Kind regards Zoe Norris
Just did a further search into details of James Norris's War grave and found these pictures on The War Graves Photographic project website; The War Graves Photographic Project The second photo is of the original grave taken by the late Reverend Captain Robert James Smith of the Royal Chaplain dept, attatched to the 24th Field Reg, Royal Artillary. The website explains that amongst his many duties were the burials of the fallen and he took photographs where possible with the likely intention of sending them to the families. Well many years later I have now found the photo..........I do hope it is complete coincidence that I happened upon all of this on Halloween quite by accident really while doing background research for a job application.........
