175935 John Mulhinch British Army 4th Queen's Own Hussars from: Glasgow, Scotland My father, John Mulhinch, was a Signalman, with the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, attached to the 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats).
Born in Glasgow, Scotland 9th September, 1914, the son of William and Alice Mulhinch of Welltrees, Rutherglen. John was captured on 12th June 1942 along with his radio operator when his tank was bombed and destroyed at Knightbridge, south of Tobruk by the German army and turned over to the Italian Army. The Germans were pushing on to El Alamein and could not take prisoners. He was held prisoner in an Italian camp in Italy from October, 1942 until September, 1944. His captors told the prisoners that Italy was withdrawing from the war to seek peace and that they could go and try to escape to Switzerland or stay for the German army to pick them up. John Mulhinch and three others, a South African, and two Englishmen made their way walking to Switzerland stopping in small villages along the way for 2 days at a time. A Friar in an Italian Monastery near the border showed them a safe passage to Switzerland and they escaped at night to freedom. John stayed in Switzerland for ten months until the end of the war in 1945.
He married Mary Forsyth Fenner, a former WLA, on June 30, 1945, had three children, and emigrated to the United States in 1951. John died in Michigan from emphysema in 1994.
He always carried a "prayer card" honouring the first communion of a "Reginald Secker". I would love to know who this is as we are not Catholic and don't usually carry prayer cards. It is dated 9 July 1944 In the Chapel of the Sisters of Menizingen, Munchwilen, Switzerland. This person must have been important during my Dad's time in Switzerland before his return to Scotland in Oct. 1944. If anyone has a similar card or can answer this, I would love to hear from you.
|