Hello all, i know its another thread of the campaign at this island, but i have a special interest. As the most of you will know, my Grandpa has served there with the German Paratroopers. I have the places where he was at, and i have heard the experiences he has made there. What i do hope now, is to hear the experiences that you have made, if you are a Veteran, or the ones that your Grandfathers has made. The reason is that i dont want to stay onesided in my information and i think i will get a better picture of the place there. Dear Ron Goldstein, i have seen that you have served at Sicilly and i would really appreciate it, if you would be so kind and share your experiences here with me. Many thanks in advance to all. Best Regards, Ulrich
Hi Ulrich My father served in Sicily with 56 Recce, part of the 78th Infantry Division (as you probably know). His campaign was what I have heard called "short and sharp"-it only lasted about a month from July to August 1943. Here is a little short story from a book by Ronald Tee, "A British Soldier Remembers", he was in 56 Recce like my father QUOTE "A Good Trade" August 1943. Sicily only lasted about three or four weeks but our casualties were high. We lost half of our armoured cars, a number of men, and had many near squeaks. One of my boys was wounded and finished up in a field all on his own. Night came and a German soldier found him. He put my friend on his shoulders and made his way back to our lines. The German then wanted to return to his unit. We made sure he did. UNQUOTE I think that is a lovely story. Lesley
Ullrich I hope that you won't mind me explaining to others that you made a similar request to me via the Private Message box and that I advised you to make the same posting on the open forum in order that the subject could then be open to comment by other forum members. Having got that out of the way I must tell you that although the campaign in Sicily lasted only about one month it was pivotal to the campaign in Italy and at times was hard and bloody. It was also my first experience of modern warfare and I have quite a few memories of my time there. I need to do some research for you, including links to articles that I have previously posted and will return to this thread once I have located these items. In the meantime others may wish to comment. Ron
I was stationed at NAF Sigonella (due west of Catania.) I had plenty of time to wander around looking for battlefields. I stood on the beach at Licata on July 10 for three consecutive years, just to absorb.
Thank you Lesley! Thats a good story, and a very touching too. My Grandfather has seen hard times there and he was full of respect to his former enemys. I hope to hear more of such experiences.
Hello Ron, thank you so much for the efforts you will have. No matter how short or long they will be, i will know that they are authentic and will helping me to make my picture of Sicilly complete. Thanks again. Best Regards, Ulrich
Hi Opana, i hope that i can visit this island at one day. What i want to do is to visit the most places where my Grandfather has seen service....a long list!
gebirgsjaeger I too spent time in Sicily - unfortunately for your purpose - after the fighting as I was wounded at the Gothic Line Battles and so ended up in Catania for skin grafts as the surgeons in both Ancona and Bari Hospitals didn't have time to wait for skin grafts to heal - so don't recall too much of the Island - except for the tales by survivors and studies after the war... Cheers
Ullrich Back earlier than I thought. First of all the links I mentioned: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/35439-rons-memories-of-the-49th-laa-rgt-ra/?hl=%2B49th+%2Blaa http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/70/a6924170.shtml http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/17197-return-to-sicily-after-66-years/ Then a story from my family book. The campaign in Sicily only lasted a month and at the closing stages when we were moving up towards Messina I had my first serious flirtation with death. As I have already mentioned, I was part of a crew of three wireless ops, and for my sins I had been made the official driver. In theory the driving was supposed to be split three ways but in practice the other two lads were happy to drive during daylight but disappeared into the back of the truck when night fell. On this particular occasion I was driving without lights along a mountain road with the sea on my left. I had been without sleep for several days and the strain of following a tiny light on the differential of the truck in front finally mesmerised me to such an extent that I literally fell asleep on the road. The first thing I knew was this G-d Almighty crash and I automatically stamped on the foot brake and applied the hand brake. I then attempted to take stock of the situation and found the following: 1. I had run off the road towards the sea but had been halted by a telegraph pole 2 . The impact had been such that I had literally run UP the pole and my bonnet was pointing skyward 3. It was impossible to tell at that stage what was going to happen if and when I released the hand brake. 4. My colleagues at the back had woken and were demanding to know what the hell was going on. Fortunately the fates smiled on me that night and when we had unloaded the back of the truck of its occupants and moveable gear I was able to release the brake, the truck slid down the pole, while Peter and Dave hung on to the tail to ensure that it did not slip seaward. We waited until the REME (Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers) sergeant caught up with us and then with only light repairs were able to drive on. That's more than enough to start you off ! Ron
Hello Tom, sorry to hear that you have been wounded! Tom if it isn´t to much would you please share your and the stories of the men you mentioned? Best Regards, Ulrich
Ron, thats indeed a lot of information! Many thanks for making the efforts, i really appreciate this a lot. Now i will read all of them. And i´m glad that this pole stood at the right place. Thank you! Best Regards, Ulrich
Ulrich All my stories of those wartime day can be found on the BBC war series which you will find under my signature Cheers
Ulrich, Hope you do not take this as a criticism but would it not be cricket to share the experience you Grandpa had in Sicily. All the best for your research. Alan.
Seconded. I'd also be very interested to see an account of your Grandfather's experience in Sicily as an accompaniment to the experiences described above.
On the eastern end I would operate out of Taormina, very lovely town. Palermo for the "advanced reconnaissance in force" areas. Don't miss seeing Corleone while you're there, for bragging rights if nothing else. Also try to get up Mt. Etna to see the sun set over the Med from 7,000 feet.
OPan pointer A better view of the sun RISE is to stand on the cliffs at Taormina..not as strenuous as Etna- much earlier though Cheers
Here now what i have from my Grandfather at Sicily. It’s not much but he talked not too much of the worst places he has been at. I will start at North Africa where he served with the II./ Fallschirm-Artillerie-Regiment 1 under the command of Oberst Ramcke. Short before the Afrikakorps surrendered he was sent back from Tunis to Sicily and was stationed at or near Catania. After they left their heavy equipment at North Africa, they have been equipped with 88mm Flak and 75mm AT guns and some other stuff. They had a good time with rest till the Operation Husky started. He and his unit were sent to block the coastal road south of Catania. They got some reinforcements but not as much as they wanted. For the reason that he told me his story without special datas I can only suppose that the following could have been at the Primasole Bridge. He told me that he got into heavy fights with British paratroops with their artillery, down to rifles and dog fights. The dog fights followed him to his old age, and as he got Alzheimer at the age of 80 years he often experienced them again. He said to me that those guys have been the hardest enemies he has faced at the Italian theatre of war. After they had heavy losses they made their way back to Catania and from there after heavy rearguard actions to a small harbor near Messina. From there he went by a small ship to Italy into the next fine actions…….. I have only 2 pictures from Sicily. One is somewhere in a town and the other is not easy to locate. It must be somewhere to the south or north of Catania.
