Not much to say that already hasn't been said on these forums. I just thought it was worth remembering.

Thanks to all soldiers who contributed to free Europe and North Africa. Never forget them.

Grandpa I miss you.

My uncle, Lloyd "Jack" Dillard. European Theater veteran. Far right of photo, facing camera.

Sorry only pics I have of my grandpa in the WWII are when his unit was taking care of destroyed tanks in Alsace in November 1944.

He is on the left: André C. 88ème Bataillon du Génie, 1ère DB (88th Engineer Battalion, 1st AD)

Thanks for sharing pictures of your WW2 family service members Roudou and F4UDash4.

Thx to All of them !

1ere DB !!!
Ils etaient tous solides !

Cheers,
Slug

S! to all of the Allied veterans.

S!

My friend Doug served in the Channel, the Atlantic, Russian convoys, the Med and Pacific.......God rest his soul.

God bless all who served from that 'greatest' generation. Let's pray that we don't throw it all away

My father's third cousin:


"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Staff Sergeant Fred Trotter (ASN: 34098461), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company E, 168th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, in action on 7 January 1944, in the vicinity of San Vittore, Italy. After wresting important positions from the enemy, Staff Sergeant Trotter's platoon was subjected to three furious enemy counterattacks. As the last enemy assault reached its peak of fury, the platoon found itself running low on ammunition. Staff Sergeant Trotter unhesitatingly left the trench where he and five of his riflemen were firing on the advancing enemy, and in spite of enemy fire directed at him, ran from one position to another gathering bandoliers of ammunition from the bodies of his men who had been killed in the previous counterattacks. As he picked up the tenth bandoleer of ammunition he was shot in the leg by enemy machine gun fire. Despite his severe wound, he crawled thirty yards back to his trench with the ten bandoleers of ammunition. As he raised himself to toss the ammunition into the trench, he was struck in the head by enemy machine gun fire and was killed instantly. Staff Sergeant Trotter's intrepid performance provided ammunition to repulse the final German assault, and his courage under fire reflects the finest traditions of the Armed Forces of the United States."







"The 34th division participated in six major Army campaigns in North Africa and Italy. The division is credited with amassing 517 days of front-line combat, more than any other division in the U.S. Army. One or more 34th Division units were engaged in actual combat for 611 days. The 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry and the Ironman Battalion still holds the record over the rest of the U.S. Army for days in combat. The division was credited with more combat days than any other division in the war. The 34th Division suffered 2,866 killed in action, 11,545 wounded in action, 622 missing in action, and 1,368 men taken prisoner by the enemy, for a total of 16,401 battle casualties. Casualties of the division are considered to be the highest of any division in the theatre when daily per capita fighting strengths are considered. The division's soldiers were awarded ten Medals of Honor, ninety-eight Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, 1,153 Silver Stars, 116 Legion of Merit medals, one Distinguished Flying Cross, 2,545 Bronze Star Medals, fifty-four Soldier's Medals, thirty-four Air Medals, with duplicate awards of fifty-two oak leaf clusters, and 15,000 Purple Hearts." - Wikipedia

Over here in the U.K. troops in Italy were humourously branded 'D-Day Dodgers' yet many units had a much harder time bashing against the Gothic line than the equivalent in Europe.

On the 8th May 1943, my father, a despatch rider 'Up the Blue' with the 8th army 'copped his packet' strafed whilst out-riding a convoy, the day before 'Jerry packed it in' resulting in full amputation of one leg amongst many other wounds (words in inverted commas from his correspondence at the time).

Like many at the time, when VE was announced he felt a great sense of loss and futility rather than an urge to celebrate.

That was indeed a very unjustified attitude because in addition to the Gothic Line that you mentioned there was also Anzio and the Battle of Monte Cassino as well as many other very hard fought and brutal engagements against the Germans. Fighting in Italy was no easier than it was in France in 1944.

My father also had a first cousin who landed at Anzio, was severely wounded within days and spent the rest of the war undergoing surgeries and recovering. "Soft underbelly" notwithstanding.