Keith my father passed away last year. And like your father in law he was at Monte Casino for the duration. He had leave and went back to it again and again.

We also found a few mementoes amongst his belongings. A pristine war journal diarising the battle day by day. I still am unable to finish reading it. The conditions he endured were horrific. There were a couple of Nazi medals and bits of uniform decorations. And a postcard written in German. We never knew who gave it to him and why he didnt post it.

He also hardly ever spoke about it. In all the time I knew him he mentioned it twice. At his funeral the priest made reference to his exemplary service and all the decorations he recieved. None of his neighbours or former colleagues knew he had ever served in the Army. Once when I asked for the tale, he began to talk and talk and carried on until he cried. Never saw him cry again.

The second time was when the BBC showed the World at War programme on Monte Casino. He sat us all down and made us watch it. Then he debunked the propaganda bit by bit. He told us about the innocent women and children he and his comrades murdered as they cowered in the church. It was an accident, but what an accident.

He told us that the footage of the allied troops marching up the village street and kicking open the doors to liberate the civilians was all faked. They had done that earlier and killed more innocents as they mistook them for hiding Germans. The BBC got them to do a rerun of that scene while the cameras were rolling and after the womens and kids bodies were removed.

He was the most compassionate man you could hope to meet. His experiences coloured his whole life in a silent way. He never glorified his role and despaired at every war that raged. He knew that the truth seldom is reported. He also knew firsthand the suffering being inflicted by both sides. I miss him.