218151 Stanley Malcom Despy British Army 1st Btn. Middlesex Regiment from:Essex Dad, Stanley Malcom Despy was called up to the above 1st Btn. Middlesex Regiment and served in various campaigns including the battle for Monte Casino. He often drove Col Wingate and I have several photos of him and other men in his unit some have a notation on the back of the photo of Hamburg June/July 1946.
Like most of the men who served he did not talk much about the war but the year before his death we went on a trip back to Italy during which we visited Monte Cassino and he signed the visitors book. Dad said that this was a dreadful battle that went on for over 6 months during the winter and the mud was knee deep. He used to also be part of the team who fired a Beaufort gun and said the losses were terrible and when they eventually got to the top of the mount they found that there were not the volume of German troops they were led to believe but because of the location of the monastery they were so well placed to pin down the combined forces trying to get past on to Rome.
I am not sure how to get the photos on to this site but I shall have a go so that if anyone recognises their family from them they may be able to add to the story.
I know that Dad spent some time billeted in Italy where he learned to speak Italian.
Dad also said that the Germans treated the Italians badly and sent them in first.
He lost his best friend during an airborne attack. He was called Ken and when Dad's first son was born he named him Ken.
Any information that anyone has would be very gratefully received.
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