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  #1  
Old 27-10-04, 19:05
Vets Dottir
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Default WW11 Italian Campaign Memories

Hi people, YES I'm still alive and intrested . Here is a story from Canoe news I thought YOU all would like to read. Karmen sends:

Quote:
War details still sharp after 60 years

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high. If
ye break faith with us who die We shall
not sleep, though poppies grow In
Flanders fields. The Governor General
accompanies Canadian veterans,
including some locals, to Italy for a
12-day trip to mark the 60th
anniversary of the Italian campaign.
The gruelling, 20-month battle has
been overshadowed by D-Day.
MARISSA NELSON, FREE PRESS REPORTER
2004-10-26 03:24:13




It was the dazed look in the young
Italian man's eyes. He was on top
of a two-wheeled, ox-drawn cart,
clutching a baby.

The cart was moving but the young
father didn't seem to care where he
was going.

George Burrows still remembers
the man, more than 60 years later.

Burrows, born and raised in
Chatham, was part of the first wave
of Allied invasion troops to land in
Sicily. He was marching north from
the Pachino airport -- a major
target for Canadian troops on July
10, 1943, the first day of the invasion -- when he saw the young man on the cart.

"There were little holes through the baby's temples. Shrapnel had hit the baby.
That man had no idea where he was going. He was just going," Burrows said.

"It's something you see but you never forget."

Burrows, who now lives in Windsor, is one of 45 veterans from the campaign
marking the 60th anniversary in Italy this week as part of the official Veterans
Affairs delegation.

There are many details the now 81-year-old doesn't forget, including that his was
the "forgotten campaign" and that he is a "D-Day Dodger."

When D-Day came, days after the Allies got to Rome, the world's attention shifted
and it's never returned.

"It is upsetting. Forty per cent of the whole Canadian army was in Italy and we were
totally ignored," he said. "We were there twice as long."

The Italian campaign lasted from 1943 to 1945. More than 93,000 Canadian
troops fought there, a quarter of those became casualties and more than 5,900
gave their lives.

Although Burrows is a proud D-Day Dodger, he doesn't want to take anything away
from D-Day veterans.

"We just want equal treatment," he explained.

Burrows worries his campaign will not only continue to be forgotten but will be one
of many forgotten pieces of Second World War history.

"History education is in a terrible state. It should start early, in Grade 2," he said.
"They just let boards do what they want. There's no guidance from the upper
echelons of government."

It was still dark when Burrows, who enlisted at 17, got into the amphibious vehicle
that would take him to Pachino, a southern Sicilian town, with the Royal Canadian
Regiment.

"All of us were excited," Burrows remembered.

Nov. 1 will be the first time Burrows has been back to those beaches.

He still remembers the dust, which would cover him up to the waist, the steep
mountains and the stifling heat he fought through.

After Sicily, Burrows fought north through mainland Italy, at first as a rifleman and
then as a mortar man. It was in northern Italy where he was hit by shrapnel.

"When you sign up as an infantryman, your decision is already made. There's no
debate once you're out there," he said. "I signed up to the infantry because that's
where the war is fought -- you have to have men on the ground."

On Feb. 16, 1945, Burrows was in a house German troops had used when they all
realized the Germans had a big piece of artillery aimed at them.

There was no way out.

"We just stayed inside until they came in and saw us, with our hands up," Burrows
said.

He was taken to a prisoner of war camp in northern Italy where he remained until
May 4, 1945 -- his 22nd birthday.

Throughout the war, Burrows saw men crack under pressure but he became
accustomed to the routine.

He said that no matter what, you have to follow your training. If people fall next to
you, just keep going.

Burrows, who went in and out of the war as a private, was offered sergeant's
stripes but turned them down. He figured looking after himself was enough.

"You grow up extremely fast," he said. "You go from a boy to a man overnight. It
changes your whole life."
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  #2  
Old 27-10-04, 21:08
Pete Ashby Pete Ashby is offline
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Hi Carmen

My Father took part in the North African Campaign, did a beach landing in Scilly and another one into main land Italy, and he spent 2.5 years of his seven years service in Italy ending up on VE night in Yugoslavia with the partisans.

He too felt very much like the forgotten side show, he also didn't have a lot of time for Mark Clark.

I must say that in this country it is the Burma men who are truly not recognised either by deed or in print.

Pete
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  #3  
Old 27-10-04, 21:57
Vets Dottir
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Default Pete

Quote:
Originally posted by Pete Ashby
Hi Carmen

My Father took part in the North African Campaign, did a beach landing in Scilly and another one into main land Italy, and he spent 2.5 years of his seven years service in Italy ending up on VE night in Yugoslavia with the partisans.

He too felt very much like the forgotten side show, he also didn't have a lot of time for Mark Clark.

I must say that in this country it is the Burma men who are truly not recognised either by deed or in print.

Pete
Hi Pete,

Thanks for replying to this post and I hope you're well! I also hope your Dad had many stories to share with you. Good ones too!

There IS another article in that paper about a 60th Anniversary visit back there for the vets. (I think Canoe news London, Ontario?
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  #4  
Old 27-10-04, 22:17
Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)'s Avatar
Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) is offline
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Quote:
Originally posted by Pete Ashby
My Father took part in the North African Campaign, did a beach landing in Scilly and another one into main land Italy, and he spent 2.5 years of his seven years service in Italy ending up on VE night in Yugoslavia with the partisans.
Truly a forgotten war, but one evey bit as malevolent (perhaps even more so) than those in Italy and NW Europe.

Quote:
He too felt very much like the forgotten side show, he also didn't have a lot of time for Mark Clark.
No one does, even Americans in the know. A bloody disaster, that man.

Quote:
I must say that in this country it is the Burma men who are truly not recognised either by deed or in print.
Read QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE, by George MacDonald Fraser. Also, THE ROAD PAST MANDALAY, by John Masters. Burma HAS been recognized, at least for and by those of us who actually give a shit about these things.
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  #5  
Old 27-10-04, 22:20
Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)'s Avatar
Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP) is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 5,400
Default Re: Karmen

there are a group of Canadian vets at Monte Casino this week. It was a costly, tough fight. Google it for more info, or better still, read THE LONG ROAD HOME, by Fred Cederberg. he's dead now, but was personally known to Art Johnson; I still maintain that book should be a movie, a la 'Band of Brothers'.
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  #6  
Old 27-10-04, 22:29
Mark W. Tonner's Avatar
Mark W. Tonner Mark W. Tonner is offline
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Location: London, Ontario, Canada.
Posts: 3,027
Post Re: 60th Anniversary of the Italian Campaign

Gee, I wonder where 'Her Nibs', the Governor General was in July 2003, when it was the 60th Anniversary of the landings in Sicily (start of the Italian Campaign), or in September 2003, when it was the 60th Anniversary of the landings in mainland Italy, for that matter. A hell of a lot of old Italian Campaign warriors have passed since July-September, 2003, never to know that their time in 'Sunny Italy' is finally being honoured this year, 2004.

Now I beg to ask, why is it that they are saying it is the 60th Anniversary, when the landings in Sicily (the start of the Italian Campaign), took place in July 1943 and the landings in Italy took place in September 1943 and the Italian Campaign, itself, ended in 1945? 1943 plus 60 years = 2003 and 1945 plus 60 years = 2005, so why now, in 2004?

By the way, Burrow's story was in The London Free Press Monday, yesterday it was a picture of 'Her Nibs' and Smokey Smith, which I'm glad to see they remembered at least to take along to Italy with them, not sure though if they did this for 'P.R.' purposes or because they actually realized that it was during the Italian Campaign that Smokey won his Victoria Cross.

Don't get me wrong, I think its great that they are finally honouring the Canadian Italian Campaign Veterans, I'm just a little tired of 'Her Nibs' always ending up 'Front and Centre' whenever something along these lines is done.

Cheers
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  #7  
Old 02-11-04, 18:02
Garry Shipton (RIP) Garry Shipton (RIP) is offline
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Default The Taking of Rome

Don't bring up this subject with my Uncle Steve Williams of the RCHA in Kingston,Ontario.They were on the approache of Rome when the word came down to halt.I think his remarks can be found in "Right of the Line">It was Mark Clark who ddirected US troops to liberate the city
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