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Orsogna Italy.
The regiment moved into this area and came under the command of the Fourth Indian Division. The gun positions had been last used by the 2nd New Zealand Division and they had left some good dugouts and the gun pits were pretty good. But we were good diggers and improved on the dugouts and gun pits. Now the New Zealand Regiment had moved out when the ground was very soft. Here they did something that I'm sure we were appalled at. The New Zealanders had filled the ruts in the road with boxes of ammunition and drove over these to get out of the position. Well we had to pick all these boxes out of the ruts remove the shells clean and linseed oil them all and store them ready to fire with our guns. We said a few well chosen words about all this extra work.
This area is long remembered by Orme Payne who had to traverse a road from Orsogna to Lanciano daily. This road was called the mad mile as it was under German observation, and anyone, motorcycle, jeep, or whatever the Germans fired at. So it was a life or death run each trip! Orme was astounded to hear years later that we used to make bets whether the vehicle and occupants would make it and not get hit. Orme is living testimony, as he is still here surviving many trips along the MAD MILE.
I checked with our regimental history and read that here Capt Doug Weir had quite an experience one evening. A German self propelled gun moved up and systematically blew down his house that he was using for observation. This shelling killed his assistant Gnr WO Wing. In this area we experienced a lot of mortaring and shelling along with machine gun fire all in the area where our observation officers were located. I cannot remember our battery guns being shelled in this area but I do remember, while i was seated on the gun seat late one night thinking what a terrific night, clear, cold and moonlit when a great burst of machine gun fire erupted in a small village to our immediate right. This was likely a German patrol testing the area to find out if we held it in strength. Then all was quiet and I heard a rustle and looked up swinging the tommy gun around to cover the spot where the noise came from. There was a rat coming over the parapet , the moon shining behind him and with all this, and an active hate of rats, I thought this one had whiskers a foot long. I hollered and Gnrs Oughtred and Gillespie came out of the dug out saying is there a patrol coming ?
My answer," No patrol but a bloody rat and it is here in the gunpit!"
The result was the rat was gone, and seeing it was time to wake the other three members of the crew, we three went to our off shift dugout to get some sleep .