Unpublished account of the glider landings on Sicily, July 1943.

This is the second section of the unpublished narrative of a pre-war regular soldier from the 2nd battalion Royal Fusiliers, who, in 1943 was attached to the 1 Glider Pilot Regiment.

In the summary of the soldier's military career, he states that he, "flew by glider to Tunisia (El Diem) and from an airstrip near El Diem to invasion of Sicily, July 9th 1943".

As the notes were made some considerable time later, I believe that his naming of this section of the narrative as Operation Mallard is a mistake and should be called, Operation Ladbrooke. Operation Mallard was of course the code name for the landing of airborne forces in Normandy in June 1944.

 

I will have to make time to read this later.
Is Glider Pilot Sgt Merlin Wickes Mentioned he was not on previous lists.
Horsa Passenger found that names in last minute changes were not listed..
He appears in a photo on Para data but it was some time ago.
Cant find the link.

 

Merlin Wickes is not mentioned by name. Few names are mentioned with the exception of poor old Charlton. That said, there are enough clues to be able to indentify certain individuals.

 

Sgt Irons is listed on our war Memorial in Halstead ,I wonder if this is the incident mentioned in article.

 

I'm sorry to say that there are just so many flaws in this story. He is quite adamant that he carried a Captain of the South Staffords and that they reached the Ponte Grande fairly early on the morning of the 10th July. There were 9 Captains from the Staffords that took part in the Sicily invasion and none of them has a story that could possibly fit (even remotely) with this story.
Capt E P P Commellan HQ Coy – glider crashed into sea 2 miles offshore
Capt J B McCooke A Coy – landed well south of DZ –he was captured about 1500 hrs
Capt R S Foot B Coy – Objective Bilston (different objective to Bridge) - launched 2 attacks over 2 days before moving to Ponte Grande –he was carried in a Horsa glider - not a Waco as described
Capt E M Wyss C Coy – landed 6 miles west of objective – captured and released next day by advancing troops
Capt E R P Wright D Coy – landed on SE corner of Maddalana peninsula – joined main body the following day
Capt P A Davis E Coy – listed as missing
Capt J M Simmonds Simforce – landed in sea
Capt Buchanan Chaplain - Rejoined Bn on 11th July
Capt Miller RMO – crashed in sea

 

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the memoirs, I am just the messenger who is bringing it to the attention of this forum.

What I hoped to gain, and what you are supplying, is information from those who have researched the Sicily glider landings in detail and can add details and corrections to the narrative. There are over fifty typed pages which I have been given photocopies of which I hope to be able to retype with notes and corrections in due course.

I do not know when the original narrative was written, but I presume some long time after the events and possibly later than 1965 when the writer finished his long military career. Reading through the 50 odd pages, the narrative was clearly not written as a campaign history, but as a series of personal recollections of one man's war, with the kind of anecdotes that were told over several pints of beer down at the British Legion amongst men who had been through similar events. I do not believe that they were written for publication, but the writer was probably encouraged to write them down so that his experiences did not die with him.

I have no doubt that some of the narrative has been misremembered or has grown in the telling and retelling of the anecdotes. However, I do believe that the basic details are broadly accurate and that research will add finer detail and understanding of the events of the 9th and 10th of July 1943.

 

I totally sympathise with you HW. Many stories written by men who fought in the war then wrote about it later, were confused by events, possibly even, still traumatised, years later.
There were few psycho analysts to diagnose PTSD at that time.
At least now those of us who have been here for some time can sift through the pages, comparing them with the experts who have read so much about events using records not available at the time. One does however wonder who is right and question the motives of those who wrote the records back at HQ.
I used to become very angry when I first came here but accept the fact that some did it and some wrote about it as best they could.
The decision as to what we put in our stories for future readers is inevitably up to us. Albeit changed by current trends.

Attached: Statement by the author (Peter Mennel) of A History of the 67th Field Regt 1946. Followed by notes by Peter Raban 1994 regarding amendments.
The writing of A History was much amended by Peter Raban who by 1994 was critically ill.
Much of the humour described by PM written by Lt Beadle was removed.
Thankfully I have the original wartime letters of Lt Beadle as reference, written in his own hand at the time, before his death in Sept 1944.

 

I would think that it is almost certainly the glider mentioned in the narrative. Do you have access to similar reports regarding other gliders?

 

In the narrative he states that he could hear the screams of the occupants of this glider which had been just behind him on his approach. The casualty report states that Sgt Iron’s glider had flown into the cliff at Capo Negro. That is near Avola which is about 80 kms south of where he would have landed if he was in the vicinity of Ponte Grande as he claims.

 

Clearly, the glider did not land at or near the Ponte Grande. The narrative clearly states that the glider tow rope was released early and that the glider stalled 10 feet above the top of the cliff where it crash landed. I am guessing that as the pilot of the glider he was aware of where he had landed.

The narrative has been shortened and clearly he and his glider passengers made their way towards the Ponte Grande. I do not know how far the two places are apart or how they got there.

 

The narrative also clearly states that two Horsa gliders landed near the bridge and that the bridge had been captured by the time of the author's arrival with men from the South Staffords and the Border Regiment. (Obviously not all carried in his glider).

 

I know very little about the Italian campaign and even less about the Sicily landings so I thought I would up load an overview from Wiki which summarises the confusion.

The British landings were preceded by pathfinders of the 21st Independent Parachute Company, who were to mark landing zones for the troops who were intending to seize the Ponte Grande, the bridge over the River Anape just south of Syracuse, and hold it until the British 5th Infantry Division arrived from the beaches at Cassibile, some eleven kilometres (7 mi) to the south. Glider infantry from the British 1st Airborne Division's 1st Airlanding Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Philip Hicks, were to seize landing zones inland. Strong winds of up to 70 km/h (45 mph) blew the troop-carrying aircraft off course and the American force was scattered widely over south-east Sicily between Gela and Syracuse. By 14 July, about two-thirds of the 505th had managed to concentrate, and half the U.S. paratroopers failed to reach their rallying points.

The British air-landing troops fared little better, with only 12 of the 147 gliders landing on target and 69 crashing into the sea, with over 200 men drowning. Among those who landed in the sea were Major General George F. Hopkinson, commander of the British 1st Airborne Division, who, after several hours spent clutching a piece of wreckage, was eventually rescued by the landing ship HMS Keren. The scattered airborne troops attacked patrols and created confusion wherever possible. A platoon of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, under Lieutenant Louis Withers, part of the British 1st Airlanding Brigade, landed on target, captured Ponte Grande and repulsed counterattacks. Additional paratroops rallied to the sound of shooting and by 08:30 89 men were holding the bridge. By 11:30, a battalion of the Italian 75th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Francesco Ronco) from the 54th Infantry Division "Napoli" arrived with some artillery. The British force held out until about 15:30 hours, when, low on ammunition and by now reduced to 18 men, they were forced to surrender, 45 minutes before the leading elements of the British 5th Division arrived from the south. Despite these mishaps, the widespread landing of airborne troops, both American and British, had a positive effect as small, isolated units, acting on their initiative, attacked vital points and created confusion.

 

Just how wrong can anything be. There were no paratroopers involved in Operation Ladbroke on the night of 9th/10th July. It was the 2nd Bn South Staffords and 1st Bn Border Regiment, both gliderborne units. The first British paratroop landings took place on the 12t./13th (Operation Fustian). The gliders that landed close to the bridge were Chalk 133 containing Lt Withers and men of 15 Platoon, Instead of waiting for reinforcements he assaulted and captured the bridge and held it for some time, reinforced by additional units that managed to arrive, before being temporarily, forced to retire. The other glider that landed nearby was Chalk 132, unfortunately this burst into flames killing all but three of those on board . I think I know quite a lot about the Sicily landings as my father took part in them - he was in Glider Chalk 33 which just made landfall. I have undertaken significant research over the years but won’t bang my own drum instead I leave it to Major Mike Peters and attach a copy of the acknowledgment from his book “Glider Pilots in Sicily”.

 

Glider Pilots in Sicily is a good book. I have it on Kindle it covers Ladbroke and Fustian.
Also Nothing is Impossible by Victor Miller (only covers Ladbroke).
Read them when researching Glider Pilot Sgt Merlin Wickes I think he was on Fustian.

I wore the unform of the Staffordshire Regiment for a while when training at Whittington Barracks, had a glider badge on my arm. South Staffs came off badly in Sicily, knowing the story of these operations was a must.

Having had two uncles in Burma, I have moved on a bit, down the Silchar track to be precise. One of them was in the Carrier Platoon 1st Northants.
The other a signaller with 1st Wilts.

 

Just how wrong can anything be?

I am not sure who this is aimed at. The author of the narrative (a glider pilot), the people who wrote the Wikipedia entry or me, who cut and pasted it?

Incidentally, the glider pilot who wrote the narrative is not mentioned in the acknowledgments in Major Peters's book.

Do you have information regarding the gliders who made successful landings and whose men later reached the reached the Ponte Grande?

Do you have a complete list of the names of the pilots who flew in each glider? Because, if you do, we should be able to check the narrative against a known account of the particular glider and establish exactly where it landed, who was the officer aboard, be he Captain or Lieutenant, South Staffordshire Regiment or Border Regiment, and the fate of the men that the glider carried?

 

The comment was aimed at the author of the Wiki article. Yes I do have the names of the pilots of each glider on operations Ladbroke and Fustian and would be happy to look up a name if you provide it

 

Thank you, that would be very useful and your help is appreciated. I will send you a private message as I have told the family that I will not put his name online at this stage.

 

Simon, Thank you for the PM. I have responded giving you the details of the glider that the author of the article piloted and details of his passengers. As I said in my initial response there are numerous flaws in the published story and I suspect that, over the years, he has somewhat embellished the story of his actions in Sicily. That is a great shame. I do hope that you are able to revise what he has written as, now knowing the full story, there are some parts which I can recognise from other accounts.

 

With thanks to the generosity of Horsa passenger I now know the number of the glider, the name of the co-pilot and the name of the officer commanding the troops that it carried and where it landed.

There are several anomalies in the narrative that have been noticed. One in particular is the fate of the glider mentioned in the official report.

The narrator states that, "Despite the rough landing no one in my glider was injured, and all leapt out and lay down round the glider. I remained behind in the glider to collect my equipment. An L.M.G. opened up directly ahead of us with tracer and incendiary rounds, a flicker of flame started on the port side fabric and "woof", the bloody lot went up in flames. I just had time to get out with my rifle, the rest of my gear was burned up".

In the Summary of Glider Reports on Operation at Syracuse - 1st Airbourne Brigade.
Note. These are based on statements by Glider Pilots and in the case of no glider pilots being available, statements by the senior passenger available.

The reporter states. "Rough but satisfactory tow. Glider released at 1800 ft approx 2,000 yards off shore. Glider made successful landing at Punta Di Milocca. Crew and glider intact. Glider later burnt intentionally".

The reporter was presumably the Glider Pilot. One could argue that the glider was burnt intentionally, (by the Italians). But it seems odd that that the enemy action was not mentioned as the cause of the blaze. Rather it seems to imply that the glider was burnt by its passengers and crew.