Landing on the Beaches of Sicily
Heroes Remember
Landing on the Beaches of Sicily
We were supposed to hit the beach,
make a reconnaissance for the infantry and that,
but by the time we got there, which is three days later,
the invasion started on the 10th.
By the time we got there on the 13th
the Italians, very weak Italian Coastal Division,
offered no resistance at all.
I think they were just glad to give up.
So, by the time we really got there the war had pushed on inland
oh, a few miles, I don't know how far.
and we off-loaded our vehicles
and went about two or three miles inland
and my introduction to war was that night.
We were sort of bivouacked behind a mound, a hill, sort of thing,
and there's another little mound over there and,
of course, it's pitch black
and we never got in until about midnight,
so just night vision, wasn't too clear exactly where we were
but we were harboured there anyway.
And about three o'clock in the morning,
holy smokes we heard these guns going off,
and this is the first time I'd really,
you know, I'd heard artillery fire before
because we'd done reconnaissance work,
but there was a battery of a hundred and fifty five How...
.155 Howitzers, back behind the other hammock,
and they were shooting right over our heads,
and of course we realized, within a very short time,
that they were outgoing, they weren't incoming.
But boy, at three o'clock in the morning on a foreign shore
when you don't know where you are,
when you hear that sound, it's a little scary.
So the next day, of course, after we heard these going off,
they continued for about fifteen or twenty minutes
then it was silent
and, of course, dawn came early,
about four o'clock, four thirty something like that,
so we got our... the command...
the Squadron Commander got his orders
and we packed up and we caught up to the advancing infantry.
and I just forget the name of the town,
but anyway he wanted some information about the next town,
little village along the way
so, we started off on a reconnaissance.
The forward troops went forward and...
of course, I'm with the commander so we're a little further back,
and we, and then we started our, our role as reconnaissance
That was the first time, reconnaissance,
and I don't think we suffered any casualties there.
It was about, about a week later that we had our first casualties
Some of the forward troops were machine gunned... mortared,
but I, myself, was still back with the commander
so although we heard the shells and machine guns and that,
we weren't really under fire ourselves.
And I guess that phase continued right the way through Sicily.
Related Videos
Pre-War Enlistment
Mr. Hyde's father, a Veteran of the First World War, was a significant influence in his enlisting in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) only two weeks after his 18th birthday in October 1938.
A Quick Lesson In Regiment’s History
Mr. Hyde talks about his knowledge of the PPCLI when he enlisted and how much more did he learned in his early days with the regiment.
Canada’s Forces Strength In September 1939
Mr. Hyde looks back at the day Canada declared war on Germany and considers the state of the Canadian forces at that time.
- Date modified: