On 30th December 1943, a patrol of Inniskillings was sent out in blizzard conditions from the mountain fastness of Capracotta which, at 5,000 feet above sea level, looks down over the valley of the upper Sangro river. Two men from the patrol to Guidre, Captain Joe Beglin and Corporal David Marshall, would be killed on…

Brigadier Nelson described the background to the Irish Brigade’s assault on the hill top town pf San Salvo, three miles north of the River Trigno close to the Adriatic coast of eastern Italy: “The Bosche did not hold the river line either on the Trigno or the Sangro. His main defences were about three miles…

“At that time, the Trigno was only about 20 or 30 yards wide and generally less than a foot deep. Its mighty bridge, which catered for a raging torrent, was about 600 yards long but about 50 yards was blown in the middle. E Company was sent to relieve the Faughs at the bridgehead. I…

Major Desmond Woods MC joined 2 LIR after the battles near Termoli and was almost immediately leading a patrol forward from Petacciato to guard a newly built bailey bridge over the Trigno river. “Well, to cut a long story short, the Irish Brigade, as it approached the Trigno… the Germans must have got wind that…

In October 1944, the Irish Brigade were involved in desperate fighting north of Florence in the mountainous area near Monte Spaduro. Amongst those present at Spaduro was a young lieutenant, Desmond Fay, who was awarded a bar to the Military Cross for his extraordinary courage: “On 23 Oct ’44, Lt Fay was ordered to take a recce…

Lieutenant Nicholas Mosley joined the 2nd Battalion, London Irish Rifles (2 LIR) during December 1943 and stayed with the battalion until the end of the war in Italy. He was platoon commander in E Company during the winter period in the Apennines of central Italy before the battalion moved to the Cassino front in March.…

An account of the battle period at Monte Spaduro on 19th/20th October 1944 was published in the Royal Irish Fusiliers’ Regimental Journal, ‘Faugh a Ballagh’ in 1945. It was written by the Faughs’ Commanding Officer, Lt Colonel John Horsfall, who would update this contemporary version in his marvellous memoir, ‘Fling Our Banner To The Wind’…