Lord Carver, “War in Italy” 392 (Surrey Yeomanry) Battery, 98 Field Regiment Royal Artillery. J. Gascoigne-Pees writes:
26 Jan 44 Wednesday
“A black day for the Surrey Battery. It was a very clear morning, and their first warning of trouble was a ranging air burst plumb over the Battery area. This was ominous and it was soon followed by a few shells straight into the area. The Command Post staff were inside “H” truck, and it seemed as though the shells whizzed just a foot above the hood. Soon the troops were reporting to Command Post that some gunners had been hit and all spare men from “K” and “Y” trucks were used as stretcher bearers to take the wounded to the Regional Aid Post. The shelling eased off for a while and then came on again very heavily. Several enemy guns must have been engaged on bombarding the position and then “C” Troop reported one ammo dump on fire and later reported it was out of control. Shortly after that “D” Troop reported the same thing and some guns had to move their position. More and more shells were pumped into the area but throughout the day the Surrey guns kept firing. The situation was reported to Regimental HQ and the CO.2 (second-in-command) ordered the Battery to evacuate the position when it became untenable. It was more than untenable and to hang on would have meant all would have been lost. Their own ammo was burning furiously and exploding, and the air was alive with schrapnel. The guns pulled out and Command Post made a rush job of packing up “H” truck and cleared off. They mustered together again by 391 Battery position, and it was a very dazed party that was left. 18 of the gunners had been hit out of about 100 men on the gun position. Luckily there were some rations on “H” truck, and they were able to have a brew up for the HQ party. A few more shells came over while they waited until dusk before they moved back to “B” echelon where they spent the night.
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