Note to reader – please see the post here for additional background and context.
82 Years Ago Today
I’ve posted this photo here before, and I’m doing so again today exactly 82 years from the date it was taken at Ferretto, Italy on Tuesday 11 July 1944.
Those who have read my last book, and the post linked above, will know that this photo features my grandfather 2733859 L/Cpl Glyn Spowart who is standing in the back row fourth from left. He joined the Welsh Guards in 1934 and served with 2Bn at Boulogne in 1940 and throughout the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns with 3Bn.
Since I have made the photo available to the internet, it now features as one of the first photographs selected by search engines for anyone searching ‘WW2 Welsh Guards’ or ‘3Bn Welsh Guards’.
This is an important photograph for me, and I’ve looked at it every day for the last 20 years as it has hung in the last three houses I’ve lived in. It’s a wonderful photo with the men laughing and smiling whilst wearing comfortable K.D. (Khaki Drill – tropical wear) at the height of the Italian summer. Quite how they have the resolve to laugh and smile having seen the horrors of 8 months of active combat in two countries is testament to their fortitude … Fondouk, Hammam Lif, Cerasola, Cassino, Piccolo, Monte Rotondo, Perugia ….
From a detail perspective of a ‘rivet counter’ such as myself, aside from the shorts and shirts, we can see anything but uniformity we would ordinarily expect from guardsmen. Some are wearing the khaki berets issued to them as motorised infantry (in an armoured division), others have cap comforters, some wear shoulder titles, some do not, there’s a mix of blanco’d and unblanco’d webbing … I could go on and on.
This actual print was given to my grandfather by Maj. Richard ‘Dickie’ Sharples who had, at that time, recently taken over command of No.1 Coy following Maj. ‘Fogg’ Fogg-Elliott being killed in action on 21 June 1944 at Perugia.
A 20 Year Mystery Solved
I had often wondered who the chaps were that could be seen in the background (between the legs of those being photographed) and in the far extremes of the photo; were they POWs or chaps from an unconnected unit (etc)?
I am now pleased to report that after several years of wondering, that I have discovered that this photo is one of a series of seven taken by Sjt. McConville of the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU). In addition to the ‘Eisteddfod’ and ‘Marching’ pics posted in my earlier post, Sjt. McConville photographed each of the No.1 Coy’s four platoons (No.1, No.2, No.3 and the Coy H.Q. Pl.) in addition to a photograph of the four officers.
This provides an important insight to illustrate what a complete company of 3WG ‘looked like’ at that time, how it was organised, numbers in platoons etc. The series of photos show stretcher bearers, dispatch riders, snipers, vehicles and so on … I shall save these for the book, but as a sneak peek, see the pic of the frame containing some of the series of pics below which I prepared as Christmas gift to my brother in 2024:
My hypothesis for the series is that Sjt. McConville, as per the role of the AFPU, was in the area at that time and took the photos of the No.1 Coy marching and singing. I then believe that, perhaps, Sharples was able to commission / persuade him to further photograph of each of the platoons as shown above. Hypothesising again, Maj. Sharples may have seen this an opportunity to increase the morale and his reputation/trust with the men by and gifting these photos to the men having just taken over as Coy Commander.
My Grandfather’s platoon is inevitably missing its officer (a Lieutenant), and in other places I have seen that it is annotated as ‘Sjt. Pugh’s Platoon’. I believe this is owing to the fact that the Platoon Commander was previously Lt. John Devereux Stradling Nichol-Carne, a Cardiff lad, who was killed in action three weeks prior to the photograph being taken alongside ‘Fogg’ at Perugia, aged 20. As a replacement officer was not available to the Bn. at that time, a senior NCO commanded the Pl. in the interim. ‘Sjt. Pugh’ is likely to be 2734860 Sjt. Stephen William Pugh who enlisted on 26 June 1939 aged 17 years and 5 months. Unfortunately, I do not have a photograph of him to be able to identfy him in this photo. He was wounded at Monte Cerasola on 11 February 1944, and later transferred from No.1 Coy to No.2 Coy at some point thereafter.
Further Discoveries …
Regular readers of my ramblings here will be well aware that I enjoy the overwhelming support of several families of those who served in 3WG (for which I am forever grateful). I am also making new connections every week, and over the last ten days or so have met and helped three individuals learn more about their family members.
Anyhow, enter Mr. Keith Giddings. Keith commented on one of my posts on social media where he stated that his father served in 3WG in Italy. His father was 2738608 L/Cpl Lionel Giddings who enlisted in the Welsh Guards on 6 April 1943. He was posted to 3WG and arrived in Italy in late March 1944, joining the Battalion as it deployed to hold the totally devastated Cassino Town sector.
Keith has retained a wonderful archive of documents, photos and other items from his father’s service which he has kindly shared with me to enrich the book and support my studies. In turn I provided Keith with extra information about his service that I was able to ascertain from the Platoon Notebook kept by Lt. Bernard Dann in late 1944 as a Platoon Commander in No.1 Coy. This was kindly provided by Lt. Dann’s son Mr. Stephen Dann, another individual who has supported me.
As Keith and I continued to message back and forth, he told me that he had purchased a book which featured a photograph of his father as below:
His father Lionel Giddings (then a Gdsm.) is stood next to my Grandfather Glyn Spowart in this same photograph – WHAT ARE THE CHANCES ?!?! … it literally gave me immediate goosebumps! I’m still flabbergasted by it today and am delighted to have been able to make the connection with Keith.
Again, I was extremely fortunate to make a connection with Mr. Bob Drinkwater whose father, 2738601 Gdsm. George Drinkwater, also served in 3WG. He enlisted in the Welsh Guards on 15 April 1943, and similarly to Lionel, joined the Bn. in Italy.
Bob kindly emailed several photographs of his father which included a mobile phone shot of the below photograph – the same photo from a slightly different angle, and one I had not seen before! This has enabled more detail to be extracted from the photograph as the slightly different angle reveals more details such as ranks, faces and the relief of the mountains behind (more on this later).
Writing this post has also prompted me to get back in touch with Bob to see if I may be able to obtain a high resolution scan of this image too.
So, not only was there a series of seven photographs, but potentially there are several more taken from alternative angles too. Of the 24 men of No.1 Platoon pictured in the photo (likely on account of cumulative losses at Monte Piccolo and Perugia), I am now able to positvely identify three as below:
I also know that it contains Sjt. Pugh as mentioned earlier, and 2736543 Sjt. George Arthur James and a L/Sjt. R Davies (yet to be determined) who both appear in another photograph taken on Route 71 at Arezzo five days later. Between both photographs I can see that there are three individuals wearing sergeant stripes, but I am unable to corroborate who is who – I will get to the bottom of this !
Inevitably, given that I now have a large database holding a detailed roll of 1583 of the c.2000 men who served in 3Bn (c.79%-ish of the total), several of the other men photographed will be in my roll. I need to spend time to go through all of my photographs and try and piece those together too … albeit that may have to wait until after the book is ‘done’.
Just to bring some extra visualisation, please see the below images of original war-time items that I published in my last book Camouflaged Fist to illustrate what the men would have looked like beyond the black and white tones of the photographs:
The Final Mystery …
For several years I have been trying to locate exactly where this photo is taken in order that I may be able to return to visit it. I know that at this time the Bn. was located in Ferretto with the recently set-up LOB (Left Out of Battle) camp for rest and recovery a short distance away at the Villa Pischiello (dubbed by the men as “The Cardiff Arms”).
As an interesting off-topic aside, Ferretto and nearby Borghetto, was the site where Hannibal and his elephants trapped and annihlated the Roman Legions under Consul Gaius Flaminus in 217BC.
No.1 Coy would have been with the rest of the main Bn. at Ferretto, and this is confirmed in several sources.
In a letter home dated 5 December 1944, Lt. Tim Bolton wrote:
“On 5th July we moved forward to a concentration area. We arrived at Ferreto (.sic), a vllage just off the North West corner of the Lake (Trasimeno) late at night. Parked the Company in the fields about a large damaged house which Company Headquarters was in.”
Lt.Col. Jocelyn Gurney’s personal diary entry for the 5 July 1944 states:
“Bn Arrived at Ferretto, a very dirty house for Bn HQ. Coys in fields or wooden areas. This place had been a Kraut veh. park or repair place. Masses of bust up vehs, none any good. 78 Div had fought here.”
On the 11 July 1944 he again records:
“Fine day. Coys went for route march. 1 Coy had photo taken by Army Press.”
I am deseperate to find where these photographs were taken and despite having scoured street view of the area on google maps, and having driven around the area in July 2024 (on the way to the airport) I am still none the wiser. I have also tried posted in a local Facebook ‘Sei’ group relevant to the area but unfortunately fell victim to some trolling.
Given the relief of the mountains, and the flat plains to the east of Ferretto, I believe that this is taken somewhere looking west between Ferretto, Terontola and the Villa Pischiello. I would be extremely grateful of any help should anyone know this area well.
Finally …
I am thoroughly enjoying the continuing journey of discovery and knowledge building as I continue to press on with the book. The kind support that I recieve from the families of those who served in the Forgotten Fighting Third is instrumental in being able to tell their story in detail.
Today, I shall be thinking of those in the photographs above, and indeed all of those men of the Bn. who fought to rid Italy, and Europe overall, of the tyranny of Facism.
I hope you enjoyed this short article. I still can’t believe the sheer luck of connecting with the son of the chap standing next to Grandad in the photo – what are the chances ? Incredible …
If you think you may be able to help in any way, please-please-please reach out.
Diolch yn fawr iawn,
Gareth
Camouflaged Fist 