“The rain started in the early hours of 3rd October, and went on for eighteen hours. Never damn well gave up. No matter because us troops of the 11th Brigade (British 78th Infantry Division) had to wade across the Biferno River to meet up with the Commando Brigade and the Special Raiding Squadron who’d landed by sea. The bloody rain wasn’t going to get us any wetter, was it? But it bogged down the supply vehicles alright, up to their axles in mud, they were.
“The commandos had already secured the harbour, got into the town and pushed out to the perimeters controlling all the approaches and that took the Jerry bastards by surprise. Major Rau was captured in his pyjamas. Made our day that did. That and them driving straight into our commando ambush. Stopped a lot of their vehicles that did.
“And that evening, still raining like buggery mind you, was the sea-borne landing of the 36s and they bulldozed fords for our supplies to get through. And that was my twenty-fourth birthday. Wet and wetter.
“We did come under heavy counter attack in the following few days but all in all Operation Devon, the Battle of Termoli, was considered a success. We got them on the run. But you know, even the good outcomes leave widows and orphans. Thirty-two of our men killed, another eighty-five wounded and twenty-three missing. I never knew what happened to them. I was lucky. Never forget, our triumphs weren’t triumphs for everyone.”
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