For those wishing to buy the "Battle for Monte Natale" please go to: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/John-Ernest-Strafford/a/5971 The book is a hard back with 300 pages including over 100 photos and maps. For an Audio-Visual version see below right:
From the book obtainable from "Battle for Monte Natale" :
John Strafford at the Duke of York's Royal Military School 1959
About John Strafford
John Strafford was
born in Sheffield, Yorkshire and now lives with his wife Caroline in
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. Prior to moving to Beaconsfield in 2006
they lived in Gerrards Cross for over 30
years. Married with three children and two grandchildren he is now a retired
Chartered Accountant.
He
went to the Duke of York’s Royal Military School from 1954 to 1960. The school
was founded in 1803 for the sons of soldiers.
One evening in November 2011, I was
walking through the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey when I saw a
section containing the crosses of my father's Regiment, the York &
Lancasters. There were lots of crosses
and it was dark so I could not read any names.
However I had my camera with me and using the flashlight and the zoom
lens I looked at the crosses. The very
first cross I saw was my fathers. I was so shocked the tears streamed down my
face. I was then determined to find out what happened to him. This was what drew me to the subject of the
Battle for Monte Natale
My father, Ernest Strafford was killed in
action in January 1944. I was 16 months
old at the time so have no memory of him.
My mother married again in 1949. I never had any discussion with her
about my father. Fortunately my
stepfather treated me as though I was his own son, so I was very happy and
never felt any desire to talk about my father.
I have read many books about the second
World War, but other than autobiographies they have never described what was
happening at the individual level or at Platoon, Company or Battalion level. This makes this a unique book about war.
The book is also about the search to find
out, if possible, what happened to my father. It is only by research at the
individual level that this is possible.
He has spent over ten years researching the Battle for Monte Natale and has been to the battlefield several times. In 2022 he took part in an interview with Italian Television shown at the Roman Amphitheatre in Minturno, about the war in Italy.
Other published works include “Our Fight for Democracy” - a history of democracy in the United Kingdom
Awarded the Cleisthenes Award 2023 by the Conservative
Democratic Organisation for promoting democracy within the Conservative Party.
Feb 44 was the day Ernest Strafford’s “Body recovered, identified and buried by British Troops” . We now know that the only British sol...
