The Deadly Weapon

After spending two months in Reggio Calabria the Battalion was given orders to move to the heel of Italy to a place called Taranto where we would take a rest from front line action, have the carriers serviced by the REME and receive replacement troops of the men we had lost in action so far. Taranto was a big Italian port, but when we arrived there wasn't much left of the harbor. The retreating Germans had blown up most of the dock side installation and Allied aircraft had bombed and sunk dozens of Axis shipping in the harbour. All you could see was the mast heads of the wrecked ships poking out of the water.

It was great to have a rest from living in the field and eating poor rations every day. In Taranto we were housed in the old Italian Navy barracks. We had good grub, exchanged our old uniforms for new and went swimming every day. Hughie took some pictures of me and the lads fooling around in the water. Click on the picture to see some more of Sids War Time Photos

After three weeks of well earned rest we were sent back into action. First we advanced north to Bari on the east coast. Then north again to Foggia. We did not see much action because Jerry was still retreating north to his pre prepared defensive position in the Apennines. The defenses were called the Gustav line. By the time we reached the river Rapido things changed. The Germans made a stand. The river made a very formidable barrier to cross and Jerry new this fact. On our first attempt to assault the far side of the river the carrier platoon used its new weapons, the flame thrower.

The attack started just after midnight. One of the Battalion officers guided the carriers to a point close to our side of the river bank. We could not see the enemy on the other side because it was so dark but the officer showed us where to aim our new deadly weapons. Our carriers had been fitted out at the REME depot in Bari with flame throwers two weeks previously. This was done by removing the forward Bren machine gun and replacing it with a flame thrower nozzle and ignite, this was then connected by a series of pipes to two sixty gallon fuel drums mounted at the rear of the carrier.

These tanks contained the napalm that fueled the flame thrower. We did not have a chance to get much training using this new mounted weapon on our carriers but when we did we were amazed at the power of this weapon. It could throw flames up to 500 feet or more. It was used against dug-outs, pillboxes, and machine guns. I felt very uncomfortable though knowing that I was pulling gallons of a very explosive fuel behind my carrier and I made sure I drove as gently as possible.

This particular attempt to cross the river Rapdio failed and we were to lose allot of men before both sides of the river were in Allied hands. For some reason, we were never told, the flame throwers were removed from our carriers soon after that night attack and replaced by Bren guns again. I for one was pleased to see the last of these terrible weapons.