William Lucas' Military Record

(in short, a "hero - fearless")

War Notes:

Member of 2nd Battalion, The Royal Scots Fusiliers.  Rank: Lance Corporal.  Army #:  3128453

Date of Enlistment: _____ (Age: 17 years, xx months, xx days, or xxxx days shy of 18th bday)

The Royal Scots Fusiliers or  Official Site

Stories from the Italian Front

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, http://www.cwgc.org/, which offers a searchable register, in which William Lucas is listed.

Minturno Battle waged from  Jan 17 - 25, 1944.  Historical Information: Minturno War Cemetery lies close to the western end of the German winter line of 1943-44, known as the Gustav Line. On this sector of the line the 10th Corps attacked across the River Garigliano on 17th January1944; by the 19th, the 5th Division had taken Minturno. The site for the cemetery was chosen in January 1944, but the 10th Corps then lost ground, the site came under German small-arms fire, and the cemetery could not be used again until May 1944 when the Allies launched their final advance on Rome and the US 85th and 88th Divisions were in this sector. The burials are mainly those of the heavy casualties incurred in crossing the Garigliano. There are now over 2,000, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly 100 are unidentified.

Survived: Battle of Dunkirk in WW2.  Dunkirk was that famous British defeat, turned into "The Miracle of Dunkirk" (not "victory", as some state then sneeringly put down) by the way over 300,000 Allied troops were plucked off the beaches by an armada of "little ships", and ferried to the waiting Naval ships who could not get near enough on their own, or taken direct to Ramsgate. That much is pretty well known. What is less well known is that the troops on the beaches were protected from Hitler�s advancing army by a relatively small number of rearguard units.

3 Letters:

(a)

(b)

(c)

Letter 1

Actual Letter from Newly assigned Company Commander, to William's wife, dated March 6, 1944

Letter 2

Actual Letter, dated May 9, 1944, informing William's mother of his death in battle (click to enlarge).  For an easier to read, word document of the same text, click here.  NOTE:  The letter was sent just shy of 5 months after William's death in battle. The delay may be due to what is learned from the letter to William's wife -- confusion whether he was wounded or killed in action.  According to that letter (actual copy below), William was first reported as wounded, not killed.  That misreport was eventually corrected and the sad news delivered.  This is conjecture -- it could be simply that it normally took 4-5 months to send condolence letters to loved ones.

Letter 3

Actual Letter, dated May 14, 1944, informing William's wife, Alice, of his death in battle (click to enlarge). For an easier to read, word document of the same text, click here. NOTE: question marks and underlines represent words unable to decipher, so take a look at the original letter to see if you can figure out the word.

Personal Effects

The following image is of the currency (front and rear image), which was found in William's personal effects (two 50 bills, and one 5 bill).

The following booklet "The Acropolis" was also found in William's personal effects

The following image is of the actual book that SGT Gutherie used as he read "A Prayer for a Dying Friend" (marked with "x") over William Lucas on Jan 17, 1944