Soldiers' Guides

 

Home

Introduction

Burgess
(Dorset)

Hely
(Middlesex)

Burgess
(Cambridgeshire)

Newbury
(Wiltshire)

Taylor
(Stirlingshire)

Dickson
(County Down)

Hilditch
(Staffordshire)

Lawrence
(Middlesex)

Memorabilia
(Documents, photos & more)

Family Trees

Links

Contents and Site Map

Contact

These booklets were issued to soldiers during World War II to provide them with a mixture of information and advice before they landed in a country. These particular guides were supplied to Jim Taylor and relate to Sicily and Italy, where he was sent after taking part in the North African desert campaign.

Sicily page one

 

The first one is the guide for Sicily and it was designed for both British and American soldiers.

Sicily guide

In fact, the foreward was written by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, of the US Army and the Commander in Chief for the operation.

 

spacer 600

And here are a couple of pages about the country, the climate and the people, revealing what the army thought that a soldier ought to bear in mind on arrival in Sicily.

Sicily page twoSicily page three

The second guide is for Italy and appears to have been written by an American judging by the wording of the Introduction, particularly the way the word "British" is used in the third sentence.

Italy guide cover Italy guide page 1

 

Italy guide page 2

This extract offers basic advice for occupying forces, some of which could apply to any tourist abroad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top of Page