'Stretcher-bearers': (17) Sicily - Accounts of D. Mackenzie and W. Laverack

Sicily, as experienced by Cpl D.MacKenzie, 11 Field Ambulance

I can recall the intense heat, dust and the endless miles we walked.
Scary moments included the machine gunning on our way up and through Centuripe, to Adrano, where we passed through one of the battalions on our way to Bronte, and our first acquaintance with the German multiple mortars, the nebelwerfers, as we entered Bronte - the weird whine they made from their barrels. They were, however inaccurate.
Frank Walton, "A" Coy, 11 Field Ambulance, was wounded in that first barrage. He was lying at the other side of the street from me when the mortars burst
We evacuated a number of casualties over the crater-strewn road where the Germans had blown a road bridge.
The last casualty was a Jerry and, when he saw the crater we intended to carry him over, he became quite alarmed and kept repeating in English " Mine!, Mine!."
Fortunately, on all the previous carries we had stuck to the same path.
After Bronte the Brigade continued towards Randazzo. The road was congested with infantry and REs trying to clear mines.
We progressed along the road behind a creeping barrage from the Artillery, the one and only time I had experienced it. I was with Major J.... "A" Coy, 11 Field Ambulance, and the Artillery Officer who I think was in charge of the guns.
There appeared to be one gun among the large number firing that failed to keep up with the rest. Its shells kept bursting behind us, which created some anxious moments. On reaching Randazzo we came to the end of our stint, since the Americans passed through us on their way to Messina.

Sicily: brief account by W. Laverack

I was in Section 2 of "A" Company, 11 Field Ambulance, in Sicily, so remember the action well.
On that railway line I received my only wound of the war. When a shell landed, I got a lava splinter in my hand which turned septic. I had it lanced at HQ, when we had reached Randazzo and the 78th Division had completed its part in the campaign.

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