00:00
/
00:00
Memories of Service 1 - John Wills
Web (Full Length) – 2015
John Wills joined the New Zealand Army as soon as he could when war broke out in 1939. He ended up serving in North Africa and Italy until war’s end in 1945. Now 96, Wills looks back at his time as a driver for an artillery battery. Taken prisoner and held by the Italians in Libya, he was liberated by Indian troops in time to see action at the battle of El Alamein. He was also present, behind the lines, at the brutal Battle of Cassino, north of Naples. Tales of fighting, hardship and bravery are balanced with humour.
I was really scared about planes; I’d seen too many shot down.– John Wills
Key Cast & Crew
See all 8 credits
Source
If you liked this, you might also like...
Memories of Service
Keen to preserve the stories of those who...
The Years Back - 5, The Desert (Episode Five)
Includes background on the battle of El Alamein
Memories of Service 3 - George Shadbolt
More WWll memories from Africa and Italy
Memories of Service 2 - Everard Otto
More memories of the Battle of Monte Cassino
The Years Back - 6, The Italian Campaign (Episode Six)
Documentary on Kiwi soldiers in Italy during WWII
Memories of Service 3 - Colin Ramsey
Memories from another driver in WWll
Il Magiorre - My Father's War in Italy
A prisoner of war who escaped in Italy during WWII
Memories of Service 2 - Roye Hammond
More war memories from Libya
The Years Back - 4, The New Decade (Episode Four)
New Zealand mobilises in WWII
Lost in Libya
Excerpt from film retracing the path of NZ soldiers in...
War Years
New Zealand in WWII
Māori Battalion - March to Victory
Documentary on the Māori Battalion
Memories of Service 1 - Ron Mayhill
Another interview from this series
Memories of Service 3 - Laurence Reynolds
Another interview with a World War II army veteran
Memories of Service 3 - Douglas Smith
Memories of a WWII bomber pilot
Memories of Service 4 - Steve Danes
More memories of serving in the Italian Campaign
Monte Cassino - 60 Years On
Documentary on the Battle of Monte Cassino
Memories of Service 5 - Albert Asher
WWll service in Africa and Greece
Weekly Review No. 206 - Danger in Trieste
Newsreel about Kiwi soldiers in Italy
Encounter - The Ruapehu Affair
Documentary about a rebelliion by WWll Kiwi soldiers