John William Sillitto, M.M., 1SAS

London Gazette : 21 October 1943. The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following awards in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Sicily: — Bar to the Military Medal. No. 324811 Corporal .(acting Sergeant) John William Sillitto, M.M., The Staffordshire Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps (Stafford)..

This is a sample text

Cpl Jack Sillito was blowing up part of Libya’s Tobruk railway when his unit was attacked by a German patrol.

Separated from the rest of the men, he decided to walk back 180 miles to the desert camp.

He had a revolver, compass and a small flask of water, which ran out on the second day. He began to store and drink his own urine. On the fourth day his feet cracked open and his tongue swelled. Then he began to hallucinate.

A week after setting off, an SAS jeep patrol spotted a “skeleton, with sore and bleeding feet”, just a few miles from the camp.

Sillito’s survival was close to miraculous. Within a fortnight, Stirling observed, he had “completely recovered”.