208275 Pte. Raymond E. H. "Wiskers" Rogers British Army 5th Battalion Royal East Kent Regiment from:Hackleton My Father, Ray Rogers, sometimes known as Ernie or a nickname of Wiskers, came from the small village of Hackleton in Northamptonshire and was a groom for a local farmer in the next village of Piddington. He was called up for service in February 1943 and his original regiment was the Royal Sussex, but later joined 5th batalion, The Buffs in October 1943 where he spent the rest of his time in service. During this time they went to many places in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. I have a diary of all the places he went to, but too numerous to list. They became part of a group known as the 36th Infantry Brigade, which included the Buffs, the Royal West Kent regiment and the Arggll and Sutherland Highlanders. His commanding officer was Lt.Col. A J Odling Smee and the Brigadier was R D Musson DSO.
The brigade were later joined by the Eighth Army with Gen. Montgomery, before embarking on Monte Cassino in Italy. My father was wounded and hospitalised twice while in Italy, and would liked to have known who saved his life, by carrying him back from being hit by a German hand grenade. The only name of a colleage I remember him mentioning from his days in action was someone called Dante.
After Italy, they travelled again to many places, including Malta, but they ended up in Klangenfurt in Austria, where he stayed and trained as an Equestrian until his release in 1946, he also met a lifelong friend in Austria called Ray Taylor, who stayed in touch until 1999 when my father passed away.
The 36th Infantry Brigade had a small magazine called "Hopps and Haggis" and I have the final victory edition that lists all the places that they visited, which tied up nicely with my fathers service records, there were two other editions, which I would love copies of, but have never managed to find.
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