GALLANT FUSILIER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25801, 23 March 1945, Page 5

GALLANT FUSILIER

POSTHUMOUS AWARD OF V.C.

RUGBY, Mar. 20. The Victoria Cross has ben posthumously aw r arded to Fusilier Dennis Donnini, Royal Scots Fusiliers, whose courage during the capture of a village between the rivers Maas and Roer on January 18, enabled his comrades to overcome more than twice their number of the enemy. Donnini’s platoon came under concentrated machine-gun and rifle fire from a house, and Donnini was wounded in the head. He recovered consciousness, advanced 30 yards down an open road, threw a grenade into the nearest window, and put the enemy to flight. Under heavy lire at 70 yards range, Donnini and two comrades crossed an open space and reached the cover of a wooden barn 30 yards from the enemy trenches. Donnini, still bleeding profusely from his wound, went into the open under intense close-range 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 he was carrying and killed him.

As a result of his gallantry and selfsacrifice in drawing the enemy fire his platoon was able to capture the position, accounting for 30 Germans and two machine-guns.