Hitler's Island War by Julie Peakman;

Author:Julie Peakman;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786722997
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2019-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

Although two platoons of Royal Irish Fusiliers had initially been ordered to Appetici to assist, this command had been inexplicably overridden in a message from Fortress HQ without Tilney’s knowledge. Before Tilney could get them on the move again it was 4 a.m. and Appetici had fallen into enemy hands just before daylight.32 As seen in some of the accounts of the fighting elsewhere, the revelations are frequently contradictory and full of confusion – hardly surprising in the middle of a war zone. Others give specific accounts of what was happening close at hand. According to some reports, B and C companies of the Faughs were to be involved but C Company had been withdrawn and B Company could not be extracted from Pandeli.

Colonel Cowper of King’s Own was there on Appetici and gave his account of the action that night:

‘A’ Company was commanded by Captain D. J. P. Thirkell-White, Captain C. J. Blyth as his second-in-command. ‘D’ Company had to cover dark ground which abounded in caves, each one of which had to be assaulted separately, and platoons therefore were forced to act independently. Touch between the companies was soon lost. ’A’ Company reached the first gun position, after which it came under heavy fire from the flanks, the company commander and two of the platoon commanders were killed. Blyth also was wounded and in great pain, but he continued to lead the company into the attack until he was again wounded in the neck and died on his way back to the regimental aid post. In spite of heavy machine-gun fire from the left flank, ‘D’ Company was able to gain ground and eventually, step by step, forced its way to the top of the slope where the situation was much confused. Here Major M. R. Lonsdale was wounded, Burke and Mathieson killed. Meanwhile the Germans launched an attack under cover of the fire of their mortars which threatened the safety of Fortress headquarters. ‘A’ Company was withdrawn from Mount Appetici. ’D’ Company, with the Fusiliers, continued to hold the crest until well after dawn when, after heavy mortar fire, the Germans, ‘every man a Tommy gunner,’ attacked in their turn. They could not be held and the King’s Own and Fusiliers were forced back down the hill amid showers of grenades.33

Fusilier Jack Harte was there with his platoon of Royal Irish Fusiliers, only about seven men in all on the crest of Appetici. The communication line had gone down sometime during the fighting of the previous day and it was only thanks to the LRDG getting through with support that they managed to find out what was going on.34 That morning of 14 November, a couple of signallers, Alex McBride and Tommy Lloyd, managed to lay a line up to the castle. It was then that many of the Royal Irish Fusiliers learnt about the deaths of their comrades: Polly McIllwaine, Sergeant Caldwell, Sergeant Connell, ‘Sab’ McMaster, ‘Gutrie Kane’ and Lieutenant Gore-Booth, all killed.

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