In Memory of
 HARRINGTON ARTHUR WILLIS
Serjeant
4391904,6th Bn.
Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment)
on 14th July 1943

Son of John Willis Harrington and Margaret Harrington, of Darlington, Co. Durham.

... Next morning (14/07/1943), we progressed up the eastern side of the island to make an attack on Sortino and during our advance we encountered stiff opposition at certain strong points and a number of our men were killed, among them Sergeant Harrington and John Ryan. My pal, Charlie Lee, was missing; Jack Ramsden and all his section were blown to pieces; Jack Betley was also killed. The 7th Green Howards were also having a rough time. We constantly had to be aware of booby traps and hadn't to touch any civilian property in case of the lethal traps the Germans had left behind. I vividly recall patrolling along a railway line, which ran through a massive lemon grove. When we came to search some buildings we found four naked bodies; rigor mortis was complete and they were on their backs on a large bench. The bodies were black and were starting to decompose; they were being eaten by maggots and showed signs of having been tortured. I hoped the perpetrators suffered the wrath of God. During war, one sees many things and forgets but it has to be like that. We were soldiers, but I can still, after these many years, remember the bodies lying in that hut....

From Bill Cheall's memoirs, an ordinary soldier in the Green Howards

Posted by Paul Cheall ( http://www.grimdetermination.co.uk/)