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Dennis Donnini was born in Easington, County Durham in 1925. During World War II he was a fusilier in the 4/5th Battalion, The Royal Scots Fusiliers.
At 19 he was the youngest soldier in WW2 to be awarded the VC.
During the war, Donnini’s two older brothers, Alfred and Louis Dino, served in the British Army, with Louis dying in May 1944 while employed as a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps. His two older sisters, Corrina and Silvia, enlisted in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. Their father, being an Italian national, was interned for much of the war as an “enemy alien”.
On January 18, 1945, during Operation Blackcock, Fusilier Dennis Donnini’s platoon was ordered to attack the small village of Stein in Selfkant Germany, close to the Dutch border.
They came under heavy fire from a house and he was hit in the head. After recovering consciousness he charged 30 yards down the open road and hurled a grenade through the nearest window. As the enemy fled he gave chase with the survivors of his platoon.
He was wounded a second time, but continued firing his Bren gun until he was killed after the grenade he was carrying was hit by a bullet and exploded. His gallantry had enabled his comrades to overcome twice their own number of the enemy.
Is buried at the Commonwealth Cemetery in Sittard, Holland.
chroniclelive.co.uk
bensavelkoul.nl
At 19 he was the youngest soldier in WW2 to be awarded the VC.
During the war, Donnini’s two older brothers, Alfred and Louis Dino, served in the British Army, with Louis dying in May 1944 while employed as a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps. His two older sisters, Corrina and Silvia, enlisted in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. Their father, being an Italian national, was interned for much of the war as an “enemy alien”.
On January 18, 1945, during Operation Blackcock, Fusilier Dennis Donnini’s platoon was ordered to attack the small village of Stein in Selfkant Germany, close to the Dutch border.
They came under heavy fire from a house and he was hit in the head. After recovering consciousness he charged 30 yards down the open road and hurled a grenade through the nearest window. As the enemy fled he gave chase with the survivors of his platoon.
He was wounded a second time, but continued firing his Bren gun until he was killed after the grenade he was carrying was hit by a bullet and exploded. His gallantry had enabled his comrades to overcome twice their own number of the enemy.
Is buried at the Commonwealth Cemetery in Sittard, Holland.
chroniclelive.co.uk
bensavelkoul.nl
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