Ex-gunner from Ironbridge recalls Monte Cassino fight

For months the Allied advance in Italy was held up by the stubbornly defended German position at Cassino which barred the way to Rome.

The abbey of Monte Cassino which dominated the surrounding landscape was destroyed by Allied bombing but it was only weeks later, on May 18, 1944, that the position was captured at heavy cost.

Mr Hickman was a Gunner on a 4.5ins medium gun which fired in support of the advancing infantry.

This month (MAY) there have been commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the battle.

The campaign in Italy was a war fought amid a backdrop of architectural and historical treasures, although naturally the fighting men had little chance to see them.

"I've never been back, but I should have liked to have gone," said Mr Hickman.

"I should have liked to have seen some of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen in my life, places like Florence and Siena (CORRECT). Even in wartime, the cities were beautifully kept."

Born in Market Drayton in October 1916, he worked for J.C. Lloyd, a grocery store, in Market Drayton before being called up into the Royal Artillery. He and his comrades were sent around Africa to India before being sent to the Middle East and on to Italy where he first saw action on the River Sangro.

Mr Hickman, who was in 2nd Medium Regiment RA, said: "I was number 5 on the gun. We fought our way through small actions and by the time we got to Cassino it had been severely bombed by the Americans. The village was ruined, and houses up the mountain were smashed to pieces. A huge piece of the monastery itself was badly damaged."

Despite being at the front he says he was not scared.

"Probably if you were on your own you would be scared, but we were with other people. There was a general offensive going up the mountain to get to the monastery, which was a key point. There were the French there, the Gurkhas there, and the Poles there, as well as the British.

"We shot the Poles up the hill (i.e. supported them with artillery) to the monastery, and also the Gurkhas. By the time we got to the top of the monastery the Germans had more or less retired and packed up. The monastery was very badly damaged. It was a beautiful place."

The German forces had retired in good order and much hard fighting lay ahead.

At war's end, Mr Hickman was at Lake Como. He and most of the comrades had come through unscathed.

"We were very lucky."

And his response to the end of the war was to get drunk for the first time, ending up being put on the back of a truck and sent off to be seen by the medical officer.

"He said: 'Take him back. There's nothing wrong with him. He's drunk.'"

He moved to Ironbridge in 1950 and was manager of J.C. Lloyd & Sons grocers and provisions merchants in what is now the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Shop.