The Trasimene Line. June-July 1944
How it all began. Squadron Leader Jack Carlisle DOYLE, DSO, DFC and Bar, 1918-2009
Checking out his Kittyhawk before operations, 1943
When I was managing a property owned by a Dutch couple the proprietor phoned me one evening to say that he had had a rental enquiry from an Australian who had been injured in the Lake Trasimeno area during World War Two. He wanted to revisit the site of the incident and required the services of English speaking guide. Would I be interested in taking him on?
I replied in the affirmative and in May 1999 I was privileged to meet this amazing elderly Australian. He did not know exactly where the incident had taken place but descibed it to me vividly.
I replied in the affirmative and in May 1999 I was privileged to meet this amazing elderly Australian. He did not know exactly where the incident had taken place but descibed it to me vividly.
Jack's Story
It was the late evening of 29 June, 1944. Having finished his tour of flying duty he had been allocated to ground activites, more specifically to Rover David. This involved the placing of a radio just behind the front line so that aircraft moving in to bomb enemy positions could be directed as accurately as possible onto their targets. Jack arrived at a villa somwhere near the lake and drove his jeep containing the radio equipment up the outside stone steps and into the entrance hall. He and his radio operator established themselves in the attic, taking some tiles away from the roof so as to position their radio equipment more effectively. Sharing the building with the Rover David team were the headquarters of a British regiment. The following day a time bomb which had been placed in the basement by the retreating Germans exploded. Jack's fall from the attic was broken by a beam, which saved his life. After being treated at a nearby field hospital he was evacuated to the main hospital at Caserta where he made a full recovery, after which he resumed his flying duties.
It was the late evening of 29 June, 1944. Having finished his tour of flying duty he had been allocated to ground activites, more specifically to Rover David. This involved the placing of a radio just behind the front line so that aircraft moving in to bomb enemy positions could be directed as accurately as possible onto their targets. Jack arrived at a villa somwhere near the lake and drove his jeep containing the radio equipment up the outside stone steps and into the entrance hall. He and his radio operator established themselves in the attic, taking some tiles away from the roof so as to position their radio equipment more effectively. Sharing the building with the Rover David team were the headquarters of a British regiment. The following day a time bomb which had been placed in the basement by the retreating Germans exploded. Jack's fall from the attic was broken by a beam, which saved his life. After being treated at a nearby field hospital he was evacuated to the main hospital at Caserta where he made a full recovery, after which he resumed his flying duties.
Villa Paolozzi
Fulvio and Leo Berbeglia and Pio Cimicchi
The only things Jack had to go by in trying to find the villa were two aerial photographs of the location. He placed them on the table for me to look at. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the road which winds from Castiglione del Lago past the village of Vitellino up to Gioiella, easily identifiable by its hairpin bends. The villa in question was was Il Gioiello, owned at the time of the incident by the Paolozzi family and commonly known as Villa Paolozzi. Accompanied by three local people, retired vet Dottor Leo Berbeglia, his nephew Fulvio and retired carabiniere Pio Cimicchi, Jack paid a visit to the Villa Paolozzi and confirmed that it was indeed the place he was looking for.
The research begins
4 Reconnaissance Regiment War Diary for 30 June 1944
My curiosity having been aroused, I asked Jack if he knew which British Regiment had been in the villa with him at the time of the explosion. He didn't. I was determined to find out. During the year which followed his stay in Italy I visited the Imperial War Museum and the National Archives at Kew and found the answer to my question and a wealth of fascinating information besides. The regiment in the villa had been 4 Recce of 4 British Infantry Division.
Having discovered which units had fought on the Trasimene Line I wrote to their regimental associations and received letters from a number of old soldiers, amongst whom were Colonel John Horsfall of 2 London Irish Rifles (at the time Lt. Col.), Private Albert Dickinson of 2 Somerset Light Infantry, who became a dear friend of mine, Sergeant Thomas McCrow of 8 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who sent me an invaluable map that he had been using at the time, Private Tony Fownes, also of 2 Somersets, who sent me his diary, and Captain 'Robbie' Robinson of 1 Royal Irish Fusiliers whose testimony was invaluable during my research for Gli Ebrei di Isola Maggiore.
My next task was to interview two or three people in each of the villages affected by the passage of the front. By putting together what they told me with the records in the War Diaries I was able to piece together the battle story which I have recounted in The Trasimene Line. June-July 1944. One of the people I interviewed was Guido Lana. (See next page)
Having discovered which units had fought on the Trasimene Line I wrote to their regimental associations and received letters from a number of old soldiers, amongst whom were Colonel John Horsfall of 2 London Irish Rifles (at the time Lt. Col.), Private Albert Dickinson of 2 Somerset Light Infantry, who became a dear friend of mine, Sergeant Thomas McCrow of 8 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who sent me an invaluable map that he had been using at the time, Private Tony Fownes, also of 2 Somersets, who sent me his diary, and Captain 'Robbie' Robinson of 1 Royal Irish Fusiliers whose testimony was invaluable during my research for Gli Ebrei di Isola Maggiore.
My next task was to interview two or three people in each of the villages affected by the passage of the front. By putting together what they told me with the records in the War Diaries I was able to piece together the battle story which I have recounted in The Trasimene Line. June-July 1944. One of the people I interviewed was Guido Lana. (See next page)
The presentation of The Trasimene Line, Castiglione del Lago, 2002
The book was presented firstly to friends and those who had given me their testimonies. Together with me in the photograph are Simone Slaviero on the left, who edited the text and later translated it in Italian (La Battaglia Dimenticata), and Professor Ruggero Ranieri of the Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation, which published both volumes. An official presentation took place on a later occasion in the Palazzo Duca Della Corgna (the Town Hall) in Castiglione del Lago. When the Italian version came out in 2004 it was decided to hold the presentation in the village of Sanfatucchio, which together the countryside near Vaiano had borne the brunt of the fighting.
IN 2012 THE REVISED EDITION OF T HE TRASIMENE LINE CAME OUT. TO ORDER GO TO PAGE ENTITLED PUBLICATIONS