Taking Sicily

Well the final days we took there we got up from Regalbuto we started to go up north to the Plains of Catania, Catania is the capital of Sicily and that was the bottom of Mount Etna. The American's were on their way to Palermo. The British were coming up towards Catania. We were in the middle, just off centre. We didn't have much resistance there. It was just going straight on, hell bent for leather. The Germans retreated so quickly, because they never had the Italian Army now. What they had was just remnants. Everything happened quickly and before we realized they turned around and said "You're going into rest period now, for a week, and prepare yourself to go into Italy." But that took about two weeks...it took us just over two weeks to take Sicily. I would say we most probably lost about, during that battle, about five tanks. We didn't lose many tanks. Personnel, I would say about twenty. I don't think it's that many...in that basis there. There is other personnel from other squadrons who we knew, and we took it as it comes. I mean, well I don't think we had any time to think about it. That was the basis of the...when you're fighting war, you haven't got time to worry about who died, who got killed, who's wounded. Nobody knew.