Letter from Sicily July 43

8/13/2019 Letter from Sicily July 43

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We have been at sea for a good many days now.The sea is f la t calm and a heavenly blue. The sun islovely, so hot that i t must be taken in very small dosesunti l the browning process is complete.

Just got started, when they began throwingdepth charges around - far too interest ing for le t te rwriting. I t s next day now, s t i l l hot, calm and peaceful.

The t r ip has been entirely unmolested so far,a tremendous manifestation of Brit ish sea power. Theoccasional display of depth charge explosions seems tobe just a show of spir i t on the part of our escort .Of course there has been a good deal to do during thet r ip - enough to keep me busy without overworking. Ihave only read one book, borrowed from Bert.

The food has been extremely good, with noration restr ic t ions at al l . I expect I have put on agood deal of fa t . I know others have. nyway I m f i tas a fiddle.

Unfortunately the bar was closed when wesailed, so we are getting a l i t t l e t i red of orangesquash and ginger ale. I t offends my independencemore than my head, and that not overmuch.

We are now ready for the next exercise,i t , s hard to realize yet that i t s anything else.

D


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strange maps are in our cases, romantic names tryingour efforts at pronunciation. The orders are complete,and slowly and surely every man is digesting them.Morale is staggeringly high, every man raring to go.Our comparative morale must be one of our greatestweapons.

Yesterday we received a message of welcome andencouragement from our famous new Commander-in-Chief.He i s a very great soldier.

In a few days time, very early in the morning,the world will rock with the news we have waited for solong. They asked for i t and now they shall get i t .

I can only thank God that I have been giventhe tr'emendous honour of being there, one soldier inthe greatest crusade ever known in history.I t is a very great adventure and we are the Regiment todo i t just ice.

Unfortunately censorship requirements s t i l lmake l e t t e r writing extremely diff icu l t . Perhaps whenour general local i ty is known to everyone, I will beable to give you more interest ing descriptions of thecountry, people, and our l i fe . ny ship i s super secret,so l e t t e rs are bound to be poor.

I m going to stop now for a bi t as I m practical ly


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melting. I ll go on after lunch s o m t i m ~Next evening. Too damn many interruptions .

I m just having the time of my l i f e , everything i ste r r i f ic , more fun than a barrel of monkeys

There is no twil ight here. The sun wentdown half an hour ago ( i t s only quarter to ten) and it spract ical ly too dark to see a lr-eady. The lovely eveningbreeze is a welcome change from the perpetual mugginess.

11m afraid i t s just a pure f l o p ~ I simply can twrite a damn thing. Everything I do and think i s taboo.In two or three days time I will be able (between otherthings) to write and t e l l you something of what i t i s l ike .There should be plenty to write about without the necessi tyof touching on any securi ty subjects.

Later: Afraid I have been pretty well on thehop since leaving off and without any chance to writele t te rs .

I t is now my l a s t night in bed for a while.Everything is packed, rar in to go Doug Stra inhas just come in. I t s pret ty la te and w must go tosleep. I t s very hot , I m lying on top of my bed withjust jockey shorts and a wrist-watch on. The heatdoesn t seem to bother me but I expect i t will take al i t t l e while to get used to doing hard physical exercise


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-4-in this temperature.

o ~ o r r o w I must study hard to memorize thela s t l i t t l e detai ls Gosh i t s marvellous, I wouldn tmiss th is party for anything in the world.

July 17.A week a t war now On Friday, a week ago yesterday, the convoys

formed up for the run in. The day was bri l l ian t ly clear,but for the f i r s t time on the t r ip , blowing hard and veryrough.

The greatest f leet of ships the world has everseen was spread out to the horizon a l l around us. Thescene was indescribably magnificent. Tiny l i t t l e R Nmotor launches fought their way through huge waves, between stately batt leships and luxury l iners. Every typeof ship and craft was l a id out in display, a l l headingthe same way I was very thr i l led.

Preparations for landing were completed fair lyearly in the day, topped off with the waterproofing ofa l l our documents and maps etc. The sp i r i t of the Regimentwas ter r i f ic . I t r ied to get in a bi t of sleep, buteventually found enough to do without that .

s darkness fe l l we began to close the coast,


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-5-and the sea slackened off. I t was a bri l l ian t night , withbright moon up t i l l midnight.

Twenty miles or so off the coast a few a i rc raf tf lares were dropped over us and A.A. t racer went up fromvarious directions to meet the vis i tors . A l i t t l e l a te rthe glow of a coast searchlight could be seen on the horizon.

No one could understand why such a mighty f leetsteaming on i t s course a l l day was not met with every attackin the power of the enemy to deliver against us.

The moon had gone down and i t was very dark whenwe manned our craft waiting for the order to lower away.

Visibly, the dim figures crouched in rows ineach craft were very grim real i ty. In spir i t we a l l resembled a footbal l team gOing on the f ie ld to win thebiggest game of the season.

We reached our anchorage position and s t o p p e ~Our months of preparation were complete. The commandcame Lower away.

The sea was s t i l l fa ir ly rough but we s l ips i lent ly over each wave in turn. im outlines of othercraft could be seen ahead and astern of us.

The glow from a burning aerodrome inlandsilhouetted the dim outline of the coast more and moreclearly as we approached. A searchlight suddenly stabbed '


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-6-the darkness towards ~ s paused and splut tered out. I treally was al l very exciting. A few odd things wentover us into the sea, causing no inconvenience to anyone.

Suddenly a stream of red dots issuing from apil l -box on our l e f t announced the beaching of the f i r s twave. o great amount of f i r ing developed and a fewminutes la ter we got Jim Blai r s success signal and wentin to land.

A grate, a bump and down went the door. I wasin the water, wading ashore. About f if teen yards, notvery deep, and there i t was. Sicily, the land of the Wopsand the Hun. I could hardly believe i t .

A lovely sandy beach was borde[ ed with a barbedwire fence even less formidable than ours in England.We hacked a few holes in the wire and pushed inland to-join the leading companies, through neat rows of lowbushes which daylight showed to be grapevines.

The country we had a l l memorized from maps andphotographs was quite easily recognizable, but the atmosphere and t ropical t rees made i t a l l very strange.

The causeway we expected to f ight hard for wasundefended when we actual ly got there. The Wop machineguns were in posit ion and loaded. Stacks of grenadeswere la id out round each post. Signs of most hasty departure were evident eve[ ywhere.


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-7-The few peasants on hand were terr i f ied to

begin with, but very soon got over the shock.The f i r s t f i f ty or so Wop prisoners were

rounded up and they seemed quite resigned to anything instore for them.

Daylight showed us well established with very,very few casual t ies and everyone in grand form.

The advance continued according to plan, andwe found ourselves in a vineyard on a hi l l overlookingthe beach area . ;

Towards evening an ineffectual counter-attackput in i t s appearance and smartened up our digging enthusiasm a bi t with mortar f i re . Our guns soon put astop to i t

Looking back on i t i t would seem that eitherwe achieved complete surprise (almost ~ i m a g i n a b l e orthe Germans didn t want to help, and the Wops didn twant to (or couldn t) do the job without help.

We moved by night to a high position furtherinland and daylight Sunday found us there, well establishedin Sici ly .

Since then our advance inland has been veryrapid. Fighting on our part has been really a seriesof delaying actions, no really pitched bat t les . ome ofthe gentry pick up courage af ter dark and do a bi t of


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-8-sniping a t us.

We passed through deserted Ispica in the moon-l ight The f i r s t southern tovm I had ever seen. I t isa l l very beautiful but too hot and dry to be perfect .The people are indescribably poor. They have no clothes,no shoes, and haven't eaten for days. The un has usedup everything for the armw.

We had a spiri ted l i t t l e scrap in Modica, whichwas apparently glad to see us when we got in to i t Thepeople a l l cheer and clap and make a great fuss. I thinki t is partly re l ie f at losing the Germans but chiefly aneagerness to cadge cigaret tes and a sound ins t inc t as tothe side on which the i r bread i s buttered.

We didn ' t stay in Modica, but again dug into al i t t l e farm in the mountains. I got a l i t t l e riding ona beautiful charger borrowed from an Iteye cavalryofficer . We have collected quite a str ing of p c k ~ h o r s e sand mules from the countryside, but as our own vehiclesarr ive we gradually become more independent and too fastfor ho rses.

Ragusa i s quite a fascinating place. I wentin to t ry and scrounge some troop trUCks, but they haddone a pretty fa ir job of demobilizing them. Bil l Burywas ensconced in a huge ornate office of the Prefect ofGendarmerie, beneath the ever present ugly mug ofBenito Mussolini.


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-9 -A more tangible n ~ y force began to materialize

to the north so our advance quickened as we went to meeti t . Several small bat t les have been fought since Ragusa,but the Canadians have not ycet fought any great victories,contrary to reports of Canadian press news etc.

I took out my f i r s t night patrol night beforel as t to see i f the next town was defended or abandoned.We found the Huns had just l e f t but we had fun anyway.Several of the population turned out at three in themorning to f i r s t stare and then to welcome us. We blew upa tank in the middle of the main s t reet which sort of wokethem up. We must have been anything but reassuring, withblackened faces and t o ~ m y guns.

One l i t t l e guy l ike Harpo Marx simply screamedwith delight, yelled Noo York- Noo York then leapt onmy neck crying Kiss me - kis.s me.

A bat t le is now going on in front of us and weare in reserve waiting to go through. Some ruddy greatguns in the f ield next to me make concentration diff icul t .

I t i s al l tremendous fun, just l ike the bigschemes in England, but with a lo t of added in terest andexcitement. The heat really doesn't bother me much andI am f i t as a f iddle. A few were rather overcome withheat a t f i r s t but al l are quickly gett ing into shape.I have had a lo t of bites, I t ~ i n k they are ants, but


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the.f seem to have stopped now.Frui t i s pleY. -tiful and very welcome. The orchard

I am in now has big ripe purple figs in i t Oranges areplent i ful in the town stores but we haven t seen any growingyet. got one big lemon off a tree.

must go now and have a shave, in case we haveto go suddenly. Sleeping and feeding times are a l l veryuncertain, but seem to work very well.

Aug. 3.Another respite of unknown duration. Should be

time fo r a word or two before anything breaks. St i l l nomail in from you or anyone else, though a few airmaille t ters have now arrived from England. I expect to wallowin a wacking big mail one of these days.

e have had enough rest now and are al l impatientto get on with i t Firs t rest af ter action i s a Heavensent blessing, but we are a l l rested now, and in goodshape for the next encounter. I expect from now on thingswill move at a rather slower tempo than formerly, as thelarge armies begin to close in to more restr ic ted spacefor the f inal ki l l

Old Etna continues to smoke imperturbably aboveus, a reminder that greater things than puny man inhabit


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the Universe. When perched on a hi l l beyond range of thereceding bat t le one gets an increased sense of thefu t i l i ty of war. Day and night we watch p opl throwingthings a t each other with loud bangs. I t a l l seems verySilly.

I m Sitt ing a t a table with Bert, at B H Q belowour h i l l waiting for news or move orders. We are in theshadow of n almond orchard, which provides some respitefrom the glaring sun. s a matter of fac t the intenseheat has never really bothered me and I have not succumbedat a l l to any of the common diseases of the place. I tseems to agree with me Just below our hi l l is a largewell with one of the common stone washing troughs besidei t . I t i s perfectly delightful to wallow in. Not a t a l la bad substi tute for a bath. Clean white bath tub, sof tbed and clean white l inen sheets, Jeese what a thought.This really i s a f i l thy country. The American rmypamphlet says that insanitary conditions are one of thegreatest defenses against an invader. I t should notunduly bother us as we need have l i t t l e truck with thenatives and can keep pretty well out of the towns as arule.

The country is really very picturesque and thecolouring on the mountains, par t icular ly at dawn and


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sunset, is simply an ar t i s t s dream. I wish I hadbrought out a decent handbook on Sicily, but i t s toola te to do anything about i t now.

Aug. 15.11m lying on my camp bed (recently caught up

to me under my mosquito net tent. Necessary to keepoff the f l ies . I t s half past two. P.M. Damn hot. eare resting in a charming l i t t l e valley, shaded by orangeand fig ~ r e e s ~ with quite a decent l i t t l e stream at thebottom. e have cleaned out a concrete reservoir abouttwent.y-five feet square, which i s now ful l of waterand an excellent swimi ning pool. I t is a Garden of Eden,Peace after the Storm.

The storm incidentally, was quite a good show,and we feel very proud to have earned our place in thefighting Eighth ~ r m y Our men have put up a magnificentshow. I won t bore you with any detai ls , as no doubtCanadian papers will eventually provide one version orother Next time we go in we l l be bat t le t r iedveterans, even more of a menace to the Huns.

Aug. 21.

e are holding the Annual Div. Sports duringthis rest period. I have been pretty busy as Secretary


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-13-of the Div. Sports Committee also organizing the Bde.and Unit Sports. I t is so hot out here that we haveto do i t al l in the early morning and just before dark.

I drove in to Catania the other day and got RMorrison to f ix a tooth for me. I actually slept in ahouse and enjoyed the luxuries of a bathroom. I t wasquite a wonderful relaxation after so long in the hil lSto see even a bleak deserted town again. s a matterof fact i t is quite a beautiful town and should soonpick up again. The l i t t l e country towns are al l simplyfoul. e went for a swim near the town and i t . was simplylovely. A perfect beach and perfect sea. The troops alsowent direct from here to a different place. But theirswim was somewhat marred by stinging jel ly fish.

Monty visited the brigade yesterday and gavethe Canadians a tremendous ovation. Apparently we havedone quite well.

Aug. 23.Don Clarke blew in for a short time las t night

with ndy Mac on a flying vis i t from England. Hence thisopportunity for a fast le t ter to you.I l l try to send you a snap of me in tropical

ki t i f I can get one. s a matter of fact you may runinto a newspaper clipping from Canada as the press


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photographers :have been busy as bees since the fightingstopped.

Yesterday I gave ndy Mac a huge Nazi flag whichwe had picked up on our las t o b j e c t i v ~ He seemed veryt ickled with i t He spoke of Ian s tour of duty with himwith pleasure, apparently he did well.

A bi t of a social ~ r l is suddenly making i t sappearance. Most welcome. Last night some of us wentn to an aerodrome to play a few rounds of soft bal l and

drinks with pilots of a Canadian fighter squadron. Theyare. coming here for a return encounter on Friday. Un-fortunately the only road out is a mountain mule trackwhich shakes you to pieces.

Four battalions of the Regiment are now in theisland and we are to have an historical get togetheron wednesday night. I t will be a te rr i f ic occasion,undoubtedly v ~ wet. You may easily hear R ~ t r e a tplayed by the massed pipes and drums over the B.B.C.sometime. You could probably hear i t without the radio).

Life here is pursuing a p r e t ~ even tempo aswe gradually prepare for whatever i s to come. I am keptpretty busy on various sports commdttees as well asrunning the Company. The awful heat and fl ies make i tvery diff icul t to work between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.


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Though early mornings and evenings are lovely. I msweating l ike a pig now, keeping my hands off thele t te r .

Our i rr igat ion ditch swimming pool is a t re -mendous Godsend and I manage to jump into i t half adozen times a day. I ll go now, cool off , and come backto i t . I t s been 105/110 in the shade a l l week.

Had a swim, it was lovely.I was glad to have yout news of Rog. pal ticula l ly\

\of his engagement. Pam seemed a very sweet gir l .I wish you would l e t me have Corney s address

i f you know i t . I sort of fee l he might be in the Med.would love to run into him i f possible. ~ /

I bought a hundred egg plants the other day for2 l i r a each ( tota l 10/) which keeps the company in breakfas t for several d ~ s They re very good.

Another interruption. Syd Thompson just blewin, so another swim, a drinK and much pow wow Syd waswounded early in the show and has jus t come out ofhospital . ~ i l l Hyndman and Jim Baldwin also came backtoday, together with new reinforcements. Hear from themthat Corney, Doug Maitland, Tom Ladner, etc. are inAugusta. I t s a long way but I ll certainly t ry tomake i t . I ll send word down anyway, so will probablyget together somehow.

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Letter from Sicily July 43