Help with Photo

[WillisMarketGar]

HI, Can anyone ID the people in this photo?

My Grandad Albert J Willis is front row third from the right. The only info I have is Italy 1943 ????? I think the 2nd para's were perhaps training for Market Garden there????

Thanks
Julia

[Lesley Robertson]

I'm a bit confused. You mention the Paras, and yet you've posted in the RAF section rather than Army..... It does look, as far as one can tell, like a Para cap badge.

It might be worth posting a copy of the photo to Forces Reunited - there's quite a few veterans there.

Anyone who can help, please bear our AUP and its ban on publishing details about (potentially) living people in mind and supply such help via the PM system. Of course, if you're sure that someone's dead, you can name them here.

[alanmack]

I'm a bit confused. You mention the Paras, and yet you've posted in the RAF section rather than Army..... It does look, as far as one can tell, like a Para cap badge.

Yes, me too - confused I mean. Most are Para but not all. The chap second right front row looks to me to be Royal Signals and the smart chap second right back row a Royal Engineer I think, albeit with a Para flash on his arm and maybe wearing a Red Beret also.

If you are convinced it is Italy you may be looking at some sort of raiding party. One of the officers has a medal ribbon, possibly an MC it's hard to tell. I doubt whether Market Garden had even been mentioned in Whitehall, certainly not in Italy and not in 1943 if that is the date of the picture. Lovely picture by the way. Thanks for posting it.

[Lesley Robertson]

I've moved this to the Army thread.

Google leads to a number of pages about Paras in Italy in 1943. It would be normal to have Sigs and/or RE with them if they were training for a specific mission...

[WillisMarketGar]

Thanks for moving the thread.

From what I understand, there was a training mission shortly before Market Garden, which was in Italy - no idea where - to train for the drop in Holland. I do think that there was both para and gliders in this training mission. Hope someone can tell me more, or correct any misinformation. I thank you all for your help.

[Lesley Robertson]

Operation Market Garden wasn't until Sept 1944. They couldn't have known to train for it in Italy in 1943.
I suggest that you start with the archives and/or museum of the Paras, and find out who was where in '43, and if Italy was involved.