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Topic: Pachino Day 2007 (Read 413 times)
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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Gender: 
Posts: 3810
A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Anything going on in London today?
Or Niagara?
To all my brothers in arms, past and present, a resounding Pro Patria.
Mike
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
Offline
Gender:
Posts: 3810
A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Veterans remember summer in Sicily
Luke Hendry / The Intelligencer
Local News - Wednesday, July 11, 2007 @ 10:00
On a hot day when many Canadians were at the beach, local war veterans were remembering a very different summer on a very different beach.
It was July 10, 1943 when the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment was among the Canadian units that landed on Sicily's southwestern tip near the town of Pachino (pronounced pa-keeno).
The nighttime invasion was part of Operation Husky, the Allies' fight through Italy en route to Germany.
Joining the Hasty Ps that day were soldiers of Toronto's 48th Highlanders and the Royal Canadian Regiment.
Each year the Hasty Ps mark the day with a parade and service, and last year, the 48th joined them. The Toronto regiment's veterans and others were back this year.
The service was kept even shorter than usual because of the extremely humid, Sicily-like weather.
Organizers were pleased by the turnout of about 100 people, about 25 per cent more than expected.
But the decreasing number of veterans was lamented.
"There's not too many here today who hit the beach," said Belleville veteran "Blackie" Simpson, who is originally from Trenton. He was sitting with fellow Pachino veteran George Swoffer, a Belleville native turned Picton resident, at a table inside the armouries after the ceremony.
Simpson said the day is a time to be "thankful you're still alive" and think about lost friends.
He listed the names of several friends killed during the Italian campaign, including Sgt.-Maj. Chuck Nutley of Picton. Nutley was the only Hasty P killed during the landing, when Italian troops offered only brief resistance. But many more would soon be killed.
"Man, there was a lot of guys. Your memory gets a little dim but some of them still stick out," Simpson said. "It's a day to remember."
There was also much talk among veterans about the Canadian victory at Assoro, where Nazi soldiers held a hilltop position captured by the Hasty Ps in their first true test in combat.
"I was never scared until Assoro," Simpson said. "I got scared at Assoro and I never got over it," he chuckled. "I was scared the rest of the war."
"That was our first real pasting," said Ottawa's Charles Hunter, an artillery veteran from the 2nd Field Regiment, recalling the Germans' strength.
He said the memories of that time remain with him even more these days than in the past. Hunter said they returned during the Hasty Ps' 2005 pilgrimage to their Italian battlegrounds, including Assoro, which sits on the plains west of the city of Catania.
"I thought, 'I'm not going to remember anything,'" Hunter said. "As soon as we got on the plains, everything was vivid.
"It's stayed with me."
Hunter has since shared his war stories with 13-year-old Erik Vincelli-Gregory, a family friend from Montreal.
"He told me the story and I loved it," said Erik after Tuesday's service. He wandered the armouries to show veterans some photos of a Grade 6 project on Assoro he did a few years ago.
The project won a few awards in Montreal, earning Erik a place at a national Historica fair.
"I just want more people to remember, especially kids today," he said.
Leading the service was retired major and career chaplain Sid Horne, the regiment's padre. He reflected upon the deaths of First and Second World War who fought to secure peace for the world.
"Yes, they are at peace," he said. "But we have yet to find the peace for which they fought, and for which so many died."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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george burrows
redpatch43
Veteran 100+ Member
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2002
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It was 64 years ago on THE 10 th of July that we Invaded Sicily. The waves outside the harbour perimiter had reached as high as 30 feet the previous night but due to the positioning of the ships to create a water barrier and thus calmer waters after considerable delay due to THE RCR "C" and "D" Companies which required Dukks for going over a Sandbar, we finally got underway. We had about 3 mles to go to reach the shore of Pachino Beach. When we were about halfway in, the Sun began to rise. Shore Batterys began shelling us but missed everyone. When we reached the beach and unloaded, Our War Began and continued until Feb / 45 in Italy. The heat was 112 degrees for most of the month of July. Limestone dust got into our clothes ,eyes and sweat as we moved from position to position. Water was scarce.
It is a day that I SHALL NEVER FORGET. While extremely dangerous with our lives on the line
it was still an UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE .
PRO PATRIA TO EVERY RCR , whever you are.
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