Normally I would have enjoyed the sunshine while sitting outside the cafe sipping a glass of wine, enjoying a lazy afternoon watching people go about their daily lives. There a small market stall selling icecream, here another selling candy, small children clustered around gazing in wonder as the candy floss machine whirred into life.

But not today. The small Italian village with its hilltop cathedral and its large centre square was strewn with debris from the allied bombing raid the night before. The sun baked down and we baked inside our army issue boots and regulation uniform. We didn't notice. We had to take the town.

As we ran up the hill ready to turn the corner into the square, the Nazi machine gun post spewed death from the cathedral tower. The first two guys died in a hail of lead. The rooftop snipers took out two more. Four of us left, we steeled ourselves for the assault, and with one last look at the view behind us, we charged.