Account by Charlie Siebert, Sherwood Foresters WW2/Italian campaign.
Short extract -
'I had just finished dressing his leg when small holes started to punch through the rear wall of the house we were in - rifle grenades, I guess. The germans were counter-attacking. I ran outside and into JIMMY BLACKADDER
"Let's get out of here," he said. "The order is every man for himself."
Men were running back from the village and down the lane towards the river. I think it was Cpl. Smith who was busy throwing smoke bombs across the road.
A spandau opened up and I hit the deck. When I eventually looked up, the road was empty and I was on my own.
I set off down the road and soon found JIMMY BLACKADDER badly wounded in the thigh. I tried to lift him but he was too heavy for me. Kneeling down, I told him to get on my back. His thigh was smashed, he could not move and told me to run for it and save myself."
September 23 1944
"After I left Jimmy Blackadder, another forester came down the lane and stayed with Jimmy, I've forgotten his name. He asked Jimmy what he should do with his rifle and Jimmy told him to throw the bloody thing in the ditch.
Jimmy Blackadder had been severely wounded and lived with the consequences for the rest of his life. He was repatriated by the Germans towards the end of the war due to the nature of his wounds.
In the Western Desert prior to the invasion if Italy. Jimmy Blackadder seated beside the Thompson sub machine gun. Charlie Siebert was Jimmy's best pal in the army and he often talked of him in later years.
Jimmy Blackadder (back row, far right) on leave with his mates in Syria. One of his pals, Fred Bowker (in glasses front) was to die in Italy.