[0:11]Italy was so different from North Africa, where we had hundreds of miles, and moved a lot every time. We were just moving from village to village.
[0:26]When the Italians capitulated, they weren't our enemy anymore. They were pleased to see us. It wasn't long after that that they killed Mussolini. hung him and his mistress up to a lamppost. The Germans didn't like them capitulating and took it out of them. One little family I came across pushing a wheelchair. The Germans had gone into their farm, shot their cows and shot her husband. She was off to another village to some friends.
[1:20]My visions of Italy was rain. It seemed to rain nearly every day. One little job I had to do. They thought the army ought to have a rest. They'd moved so fast every day that I was sent for to pick up a sergeant and about 12 men, 10 or 12 men. And an officer, that I had seen before, but he wasn't my officer. He was a gun ho chap. He had a point scarf and he didn't have the ordinary 38 revolver, that most officers had. He had an American automatic. He and his batman, when they got into a village or town, he would wrap on the door of the house, turn the people out so he and his batman could stay in the dry overnight. Anyway, I had to report. He said, "Follow me," and off he went in his 1500 weight. And we went for about 2 miles in front of the line. He said, "Right, this will do." What we've got to do is dig in here. He said, "You see that row of hills in front? Well, that's where the enemy is." We've got to hold this point all night so that the front front line can have a rest. Should the enemy counter attack, we're to make as much noise as possible and give them time to stand to.
[3:10]Well, as it happened, they didn't counterattack, and we're very pleased in the morning, we went back to have breakfast. The next little exercise we had, again wasn't very pleasant because of the rain. We were told to take an aerodrome and hold it for 3 days. When we got to the aerodrome, there was no enemy there. They plowed up all the runway with the big plows on tractors. and dug it all up so planes couldn't land. So we didn't have much to do, except get out of the rain. One funny thing happened one morning. I saw a group of fellas all standing around laughing. They called me over. "Come on, Gin, have a look at this." One of the men laid in his slick trench covered in water, just his head outside and he was fast asleep. He's a chap who shouldn't really be in the army. He would put his gators on the wrong feet and then he his rifle was taken away because he didn't look after it. So they gave him a job with the cookhouse, and his main job was to dig the little trenches. He was always smiling and laughing, but he should shouldn't be in the army. After a couple of days, some strange people turned up, three lorry loads, in air force blue.
[4:56]It was a new regiment. Their job was to guard aerodrome, so they didn't need us anymore, and we moved on.
[5:10]Well, as I say, it was always raining and we pulled into a cattle yard and bedded down for the night. I happen to bed down next to the medic. He said, "Jinj, you look rough." I said, "Yes, I think I've got a touch of flu." He said, "Can I take your temperature?" "I said, If you like." "Oh," he said, "it's 104 points" something or other, I don't know. "I better report this to the officer."
[5:46]He disappeared. The next thing I know, he bundled me into a lorry with my equipment and took me off. I finished up at field casualty.
[5:57]They put me on a stretcher. In the night, the officer came in, he was shot in the foot.
[6:08]Next morning, I was sent back to field dressing station to wait for an ambulance. When it turned up, the ambulance said, "I'm taking you to hospital. The road we're on is under fire, and it's all full of potholes." "But I'm going to strap you in and I'm going like hell, so hold tight." Well, we weren't far that, but it was one of the roughest rides I've been on. When he said it was rough and he was going fast, he really did. We pulled into Naples Hospital. They left me in the corridor, still on my stretcher, and they fed me some sort of jelly. I think it was calf's foot jelly. I don't remember much about it, and I couldn't care less. That night I was put into a bed. The chap in the next bed to me was a hussar, a young fellow. He'd been shot in the chest, and he was bleeding, he said, spitting up blood. He said, "I'd seen all the Western films where they always died if they're coughing up blood." But he said, "I heard my mother calling me, so I struggle and got out of the tank, and that's how I came here." On the other side of me, there's a fellow, a corporal. He had a map case on his side. I don't know what the material is, but it's very, very hard. And he said that saved his life from the grenade, but it left him deaf. Anyway, I was there for some time.
[8:06]The hospital had people come 'round. The worst of the hospital was there was a big generator going for electricity. That'd keep you awake all night. The nuns came 'round and they used to bring cigarettes and talk to us in bed. After a while, I was in hospital blues. They'd taken all my clothes away. Two of us decided we'd like to go down into Naples. Well, you'd never seen such a filthy place, and filthy people. Lots of little boys running 'round with placards, saying, "If you want a girlfriend, come and follow me." on placard. Pretty girls, clean girls. No, I didn't like Naples one bit. We did take a trip to the Isle of Capri. Thought we might see Gracie Field's place. Well, we had tea and sandwiches there, I remember. Then we went to the Blue Grotto. That was very nice. You have to go in a special boat 'cause it's a very low entrance. You have to lie down in the boat. But once you get inside, it's beautiful, where the sun shone in through the water, and the whole place looked blue, and the water was clear, lovely.
[9:40]So now I was going convalescent. We went on a funny little boat which took us to a landing stage. There there were some lads there willing to carry our packs up to the top, to the place we were going to be billetted in. There was a bus there, but being a mean lot, three of us said, "No, we'll walk up, we'll carry it ourselves." That was a mistake. Halfway up, the bus overtook us, and we wish we'd stopped down and had a lift. It very steep, it was a zigzag road up to the top. But when we got there, it was a lovely hotel. Looking over the Bay of Naples.
[10:29]I liked it there. They had a quiz thing. I think there were four people, three officers, and the padre, just to entertain us. And the questions that they had to each, "Who they thought was the best person" in I don't know if the world or England. But some said Churchill and some said Nelson, and they all said why they thought they were the best. When it was the padre's turn, "Who do you think was the best man?" He said, "Charlie Chaplin." "Why Charlie Chaplin?" "Well, at least he made people laugh," he said, "and he did no harm to anybody." And away he went. Well, I was outside, I'd washed my clothes, and I'd hung it over the balustrade. We were always having bugle calls. I didn't know all the calls. I knew the cookhouse one, and I knew Reveille. An officer came 'round and said, "Didn't you hear the fire call?" "No, sir." Well, I did hear it, but I didn't know what it meant. So I said, "You've got to report into the yard at once." So I picked up all my washing, that's another mistake I made, I should have left it where it was. Took it under my arm, got there, and we were marched half a mile up the road. And he says, "Right, fall out now." He said, "Why I've brought you here." He said, "They're going to put the electricity on." When they switched it on at the post office, it blew up. It'd been booby trapped, and we thought they might do the same to the hotel we were in. Well, they didn't. So we were marched back again. It was there I heard that my unit had pulled out of the front line, and were 2 miles up the road. Oh, I thought I'd better go and see them. Because I was told they're going back to Blighty. They were pleased to see me, except they said how thin I looked.
[49:50]Ralph sounds It's his wrong, he is wrong. No, where have I got to start now again?
[50:06]No, that's where I made a mistake because after that we moved down to Diss in Cambridge. I better be careful. Where's Diss? Norfolk. That's it. Are you not recording this, are you?
