Chapter Two
War Service
The Soldier · The British Army · 1939–1946 · Italy · Greece
Called Up, October 1939
MacKelden reported for duty on 3 October 1939, joining the 4th Battalion, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) at Canterbury Barracks. Initial service took him to Dover, guarding railway tunnels under Shakespeare Cliffs. The conditions were difficult — one blanket per man, plank beds, four-hour shifts through a cold November. He was later transferred to anti-aircraft searchlight units in Surrey and Lincolnshire, working as a clerical orderly and earning his PT instructor's qualification. Too young for overseas combat (the minimum age was 19), he served in England for several years before commissioning.
Commissioned into The Buffs, November 1943
After passing the War Office Selection Board, MacKelden completed officer training at the OCTU in Morecambe, Lancashire — a gruelling four-month course of which only 42 of an initial 93 cadets passed out. He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant on 13 November 1943, joining The Buffs — his first choice of regiment, which accepted only the highest-performing cadets. A regimental newsletter from January 1944 records his arrival:
"We welcome several new Officers to the best Company in the Battalion, 2/Lieuts. Cade, Mackeldon and Willis."
Anzio, 1944 — Wounded in Action
Following embarkation leave, MacKelden sailed from Greenock in early 1944 and arrived in Naples, being posted to the 1st Battalion, The Buffs, which had just landed at the Anzio beachhead. He joined the battalion in the 'lobster claw' wadi on the Anzio perimeter. During fierce fighting, a German night assault struck his company's position. He described evacuating the wounded and then discovering he had been wounded himself — a bullet or shrapnel fragment had lodged in the wall of his right lung. He was evacuated by hospital ship, operated on at the 77th General Hospital in Trani, and convalesced at the Red Cross Officers' Home at La Selva on the Adriatic coast.
"I shall always remember that boat trip. Quite suddenly I became aware of the quietness — there was no sound apart from the comforting murmur of the ship's engines. For three months I had become totally accustomed to the never-ending noise of battle. Now all was quiet as if peace had been declared."— Alec MacKelden
The Liberation of Florence, August 1944
Rejoining his battalion near Rome, MacKelden participated in the advance northward to Florence. In August 1944, he led his platoon in a night-time crossing of the River Arno — swimming and wading across an underwater ford — to secure a piazza in the northern part of the city as German forces withdrew. He described the Florentines' welcome the following morning as "one of the oddest experiences of my life" — citizens flooding the streets, women washing his clothes, one man polishing his boots while another cut his hair.
The Military Cross, April 1945
After fighting on the Gothic Line and a period as Agricultural Control Commissioner in Florence (overseeing the olive oil black market), MacKelden rejoined his battalion for the final offensive. His actions on 13–14 April and 24 April 1945 earned him the Military Cross.
London Gazette, 1945
The Official Citation
"For outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty during the period 13th April to 2nd May 1945. On 13th April 1945, Lieut. MacKelden was commanding the point platoon of 'B' Company, which had been ordered to advance over 3000 yards along a bund road to try and establish contact with two companies which had been landed by amphibians behind the enemy lines…
In spite of heavy enemy shelling and Spandau fire which caused casualties within his platoon, Lieut. MacKelden attacked with such dash and resolution that several enemy strong points were wiped out and many prisoners taken…
This officer's personal bravery, leadership and disregard for his own personal safety inspired the utmost confidence in the men, and this highly successful action enabled a substantial bridgehead to be established which was an essential thing for future operations. This officer has always shown great zeal and determination and has been the finest example to all ranks."
— The London Gazette, Supplement No. 37386, 1945
Cleveland Standard, 2 June 1945
As Reported in the Press
"It was about an hour before dawn, but the mist which hung over the swamps south of Lake Comacchio effectively blanketed the whole battle-front some days before the surrender. In their trenches along the roadside, men of the East Kent Regiment, 'The Buffs,' waited…
Quite suddenly the mist lifted. The tank fired its first round at the house, at the same time the Piat mortar man shot six bombs at the same objective. He scored five direct hits. Then Lieut. Alec MacKelden, one of the platoon commanders, gave the signal to his men. With bayonets fixed they charged across the road, at the same time shooting with everything they had. Winking out several enemy posts they re-crossed the road and drove along the other bank sweeping all opposition before them.
'Meanwhile,' MacKelden told me, 'the platoon on my right was having a rather nasty time. They ran into fire from the road and were pinned down. My platoon was lucky and we overcame all opposition quickly. Another platoon pushed straight through and the momentum of the advance was such that they broke through and took about 60 prisoners. They also rescued some of our fellows who had been wounded and captured the previous day.'"
— Cleveland Standard, Saturday 2 June 1945, p.4. By a Military Observer.
Victory in Europe, May 1945
MacKelden was tasked by his Colonel to organise the battalion's VE Day celebrations on 8 May 1945 in the small walled city of Palmanova. He had posters printed in Italian inviting the town's young women to a dance in the park, secured the services of an American Army band, and laid on lashings of sandwiches and new wine. He subsequently served with the 24th Guards Brigade in Trieste and along the Morgan Line, and with the occupation force in Greece near Kilkis. He was demobilised on 12 July 1946 at Aldershot — after six years and nine months of service.
"Whatever the British Army might have badly organised, it was certainly not its demobilisation process."— Alec MacKelden
A Soldier's Reflection
"I want to dispel any notion that I was at any time any sort of hero, for I was not. I was — I suspect — in common with most of my comrades, mortally terrified for most of the time I was in combat. Perhaps, however, I was more frightened of showing it, than the terror itself. War, for the frontline combat soldier is not and could never be in the least romantic. It is at best an obscene gut-wrenching ordeal that no human being should be subjected to. Over forty-two years have passed since I last killed or maimed my fellow man, and to this day the guilt lives with me when I think, as I still do, of the mothers and wives who mourned — and little children who were deprived of a father at my hand."— Alec MacKelden, from his memoirs, 1987
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Australia — A New World