| Description | The diary describes the author's service in the Royal Army Service Corps during the Allied invasion of Italy in 1944. The diary refers to training at an unidentified location, notice of his posting (27th Jan) and landing in Italy (8th Feb). The diary describes his general duties such as repairing vehicles, loading supplies for the front line, guard duties and dock duties at Naples. Descriptions of his billets, which included a luxury hotel and convent, at Naples, Florence and various other Italian towns are included. There are frequent references to the weather and to the arrival, or otherwise, of letters from home. There are specific references to a "big offensive at last" (12th May), the fall of Cassino (22nd May), the fall of Rome (5th Jun), the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius (Mar) and visits to the Vatican (17th Sep) and a visit to Naples Docks by King George VI and Anthony Eden (23-24th Jul) |