Part 10 Back to Naples

We were allowed to keep the jeep, and used it to travel down south, back to Naples. We went to the fort in Naples harbour, but were redirected to a big house on the outskirts of Naples which was to be our unit’s base.

As the drinking water was obtained from wells, we had been given a supply of tablets to put in the water before it was drunk. The tablet gave the water an unpleasant taste, but most of us followed instructions. One of my friends, John Liggins, wouldn’t use them, and to my sorrow I heard that he had been taken in to Naples hospital, and died of typhoid fever. I wrote a letter to his mother, and she wrote back inviting me to visit her when I got leave. She lived at Irthlingboro, near Wellingborough, but I never did go and see her in case it reopened old wounds.

Living in the house was good, but it meant that we had to assume greater responsibility for our safety and equipment, and had to take turns at doing guard duty. Everything was in such short supply, including food, that it had to be watched or it disappeared.

After about a fortnight we were told to leave the jeep, were given a white scout car, which is a half-track, armoured vehicle, and make our way very quickly up to Rimini on the North East coast of Italy. There we were to link up with the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry. They had run into strong German resistance and had asked for Naval bombardment support.

We drove up almost non-stop, and we each took a turn at the driving. I had only driven my father’s Morris 10 for a few months before being called up, but I consoled myself with the fact that if we hit anything they would be worse off, as we were heavily armour-plated, unless it was a tank.

We arrived at Rimini safely, and contacted the Canadians, who we found were right into the town.

They told us that a warship had appeared off the coastline the day previous, and shortly afterwards the Germans had packed their bags and left, so that our services were not required. They kindly shared their rations with us, and then we returned back south again to Naples in a much more leisurely fashion, to report back to base.

After returning to the unit at Naples, and getting everything straightened up, a few of us decided to explore the surrounding countryside. Vesuvius had erupted some months previously and we were told of a village called Pollena Trochia, which had been almost completely buried under the lava. We went to have a look, and most of the houses were buried, but the top of the church was still sticking up through all the ash. I thought it rather symbolic, the cross above the fire, and brimstone.

Even although the visit was made several months after the eruption, the heat from the ash could be felt through the soles of the boots.

Shortly after this trip we were directed to pack up all our gear, make our way down to Naples docks, and wait for a small merchant ship to take us back to North Africa