Name: Donnini,Dennis

Age: 19

Date of Birth: November 17th,1925

Service No: 14768011

Rank: Fusilier

Regiment: Royal Scots Fusiliers

Battalion: 4th/5th Battalion

Date of Death: January 18th,1945

Place of Death: Stein (Germany)

Decorations: Victoria Cross

Genealogy: Son of Alfred and Catherina Donnini,of Easington Colliery,

Co. Durham.

Grave No: H.10

Burial Location: Commonwealth War Cemetery Sittard

Personal Information: On January 18th,1945,Fusiliers Donnini's                        Platoon was ordered to attack a small                          village in Germany.

                      As they left their trenches the platoon                        came under concentrated machine gun and                        rifle fire from the houses and Fusilier                        Donnini was hit by a bullet in the head.                        After a few minutes he recovered                                consciousness,charged down thirty yards                        of open road and threw a grenade into                          the nearest window.

                      The enemy fled through the gardens of                          four houses,closely pursued by Fusilier                        Donnini and the survivors of his                                platoon.Under heavy fire at seventy                            yards range Fusilier Donnini and two                            companions crossed an open space and                            reached the cover of a wooden barn,                            thirty yards from the enemy trenches.

                      Fusilier Donnini,still bleeding                                profusely from his wounds,went into the                        open under intense close fire and                              carried one of his companions,who had                          been wounded,into the barn. Taking a                            Bren gun he again went into the open,                          firing as he went .

                      He was wounded a second time but                                recovered and went on firing until a                            third bullet hit a grenade which he                            carried and killed him.