From Kingsland N.S. 

to the Battle of Monte Cassino -1944

Tommy Roddy formerly of Cloonmacullen and a past pupil of Kingsland National School. Tommy emigrated to America in 1929. He was conscripted into the American army. He served over-seas with the American troops. Tommy Roddy made two landings into North Africa. His last landing was into Sicily on the 10th July, 1944. He was under the command of General George Patton. Patton was a high-grade professional military commander. The American five star General Eisenhower, who was chief of the operations relied almost totally on Patton for his ' military knowledge. While Montgomery's British troops were held up by German Panzers, Tommy and his comrades under the command of General Patton outflanked the enemy and captured Palermo and Messina. Then they entered into the famous battle of Monte Cassino. Monte Cassino was an old Benedictine Monastery full of religious history. It had become a very strong German fortress. It took six months before it fell to the allies.

It was said of the soldiers who fought at Monte Cassino that it dominated and over- shadowed their bodies and their minds during the winter of 1944. It was in this battle that Tommy was badly wounded. He suffered severe leg injuries. He lay three days on the battlefield surrounded by his dead comrades. Before his rescue by American forces, he was approached by a German patrol. Tommy had no gun beside him. He was sure that he would be killed. A German officer asked him in English for a cigarette and then walked away from him. His nephew told me that Tommy said to him, "If I had a gun by my side, I would have opened fire to defend myself. Maybe I would have been killed in the crossfire". 

Tommy spent the next year in hospital. He spent his first few months after the war in a hospital in Italy. At this stage he was missing, presumed dead. When he was transferred back to California, his whereabouts were made known to his family. He met his future wife in the Californian hospital. She was working there as a nurse. They married and had one daughter. Tommy stayed on in America and he worked as a barber initially. He learned his trade while he was a patient in hospital. He had various careers since. He retired at eighty years of age. He is now eighty-six and enjoying good health. His last visit home was in 1992 to see his sister Winnie King in Cloonmacmullen. It was on that particular visit that I had the privilege of meeting Tommy. He hopes to come home again in 1995. 

I'm sure Tommy remembers all his comrades of so many nationalities, the British, the Canadians, New Zealanders, Indians, Polish and many Irish people who fought and lost their lives at Monte Cassino. It was the major battle for the allies in their World War II attack on Italy. 

"I apologise to Tommy and his family if I left out some important facts in this article. I would like to wish Tommy and his wife and daughter a long and healthy life. I'm sure everybody who knows Tommy will join with me in saying how proud we all are of your role in World War II." 

- Deirdre Harrington, Grangemore.