204604 Sgt. Allan Gordon Madden British Army Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) from:Dover, England My Grand father, father and two uncles (Max and Tim) all served in the Cameronians. My father, Allan Gordon Madden, joined as a boy soldier and followed his father into the regiment. My Dad was a bandsman. He went to France with the BEF and was at Dunkirk. My uncle Alex (who now lives in Scotland but was in the Navy) says he came back in a hospital ship. I believe he then went to India via Madagascar (where he caught malaria). He told me the regiment was in India in case the Japanese invaded. Apparently the kite hawks used to swoop down and steal his dinner off the plate. From there he went to Persia. I remember him telling me it was hot and smelly. Years later I managed to get his war record and found he had been in Basra, Iraq. Presumably en route. All I remember from my Dad is him telling me he was later in North Africa and then in the invasion of Italy at Anzio and Salerno. He told me he crossed the Qattara Depression in Egypt and that it was pretty hot. The regimental history suggests that the regiment crossed from Persia to North Africa by land. That sounds incredible. I do not know what Dad did in North Africa except he said he had to leave one place very quickly because the Germans were advancing and he lost all his possessions (he did save a beautiful silk dressing gown covered in elephants from India though which I thought was wonderful). He told me that in Italy he was in a truck that took a direct hit from a German 88. I think that was the end of active service for him. He met my mother Nilva in a refugee camp in Florence and married her in Pioppe di Salvaro near Bologna. He then ended up in Austria in the Army of occupation looking after an officers mess. I think he left the army then on medical grounds. He was very proud of his Army service and of being in the Cameronians. I am proud of him too.
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