Captain Fred Skinner, from the 5th Field Ambulance, was seconded to the 1st Battalion, 48th Highlanders on 4 January 1943, replacing Capt. M. M. Brown.
On 13 June, with the battalion training in Gourock Scotland doing landings from LCIs (Landing craft Infantry) before embarking for Sicily, our regimental history Dileas states: “Those who tried to land from the deeper-draft LCIs had an even rougher experience. They jumped from the scramble nets directly into deep water; the ungainly craft could not draw close to the shelving beach. Several Highlanders narrowly escaped drowning. Padre East, an old water-polo player did great work and so did Capt Fred Skinner, the MO, another inter-collegiate swimmer. He had to apply artificial respiration on Pte Rioulx and Sjt George Phillips. “ He would repeat this act rescuing two Highlanders during the landings at Pachino, Sicily on 10 July.
In England Capt. Skinner began a weekly summary of news, an event attended by a large number of Highlanders. He continued these presentations in Sicily and Italy whenever the battalion was out of battle. Captain Skinner’s priority was always the troops. In Sicily, at Caltagirone he commandeered a water truck from Brigade as the 48th truck had failed in the 40+C heat. Near Rosolini, thinking B company was under attack by bombs he rallied a relief party of soldiers and drove with them to a rescue, only to find B Company was playing with Italian bombs they had found. On the advance to Assoro, he convinced Padre East to take a week’s rest. Padre East had decided his place was with Skinner at the front of every battle and in his RAP jeep, named “Daisy”. They made quite a couple – the 6′ 5″ East and the 6′ 2″ Skinner. Captain Skinner calculated his sleep, and that of East, from the landings at Pachino. The hours from the 10th to the 20th of July were: 10, 8, 2, 3, 6, 7, 3, 2, 0, 0. East returned a week later, refreshed and ready to continue. At a Division meeting while the battalion was at rest in Militello, Captain Skinner demanded that 4 quinine tablets be provided daily to every soldier in the Division to deal with malaria. His instance paid off and Division agreed.
In Italy, at Volturara when his RAP had hit a mine, he convinced the CO, LCol Johnston, to lend him his so that Skinner could take Pte Quinn to hospital immediately. During the assault on Campobasso, with the CO suffering badly from malaria, Skinner tried to order him to hospital. Johnston refused. “I tried to send him to hospital and nearly got shot.” The CO was put in his bedroll and treated there.
Captain Skinner was transferred from the 48th after the taking of the town of Torella in late November 1943. Dileas stated: “The Highlanders lost their MO, Capt Fred Skinner, who had served with them for 11 months, which was long enough, he said, to make him a 48th Highlander. He felt like one, and the Regiment saw him leave with sincere regret. It was recorded: During his tour of duty with the unit, Capt. Skinner had become highly regarded by officers and men alike, both for his unflagging services as a medical officer, and as an unfailing friend of all.”
NOK: mother – Mrs. Ruby Skinner, 821 University Drive, Sask. Saskatchewan