Smith and Jetley – Special Forces
After the German withdrawal from the Balkans and the end of the campaign, the LRDG returned to Italy where it began to train in readiness for a possible assault on Hitler's Alpine fortress in Southern Germany. However, Germany surrendered before the plan could be put into effect, and the LRDG was disbanded soon after.
The LRDG were required to surrender its vehicle and equipment to the nearest Army Depot. Consequently a jeep containing Cyril and Gilbert zig-zaged its way up Italy to Udine, via Turin, where the vehicle was ‘traded’ for new jobs in the British Military Government in Austria.
Both men spent their time until demob in 1946 working in Displaced Persons Camps in the British Zone. Cyril eventually returned to his civilian occupation as a clerk in the local authority’s surveying department whilst Gilbert went to work for a nylon firm.