Monte Cassino veteran Alfred can eat and talk properly again as shrapnel he has carried since 1944 suddenly drops out

By David Wilkes

Not that he didn't want to.



Alfred Mann with wife Constance

Vocal again: Alfred Mann with wife Constance, who said, 'he has never talked about the war this much before'



He has also had great trouble eating for many years.




Alfred Mann and the wartime shrapnel that impaired his speech

The culprit: Alfred holds the shrapnel that left him unable to communicate clearly for decades

Enlarge   monte cassino

British troops, top right, pick their way through the ruins of the Italian village of Monte Cassino which was scene for one of World War II's bloodiest battles

Monte Cassino, fought as the Allies made their way from southern Italy towards Rome, is remembered as one of the Second World War's toughest battles.

It took four months and left an estimated quarter of a million dead or wounded.

'I don't remember much from the explosion. It happened around midday and we were under fire and were travelling in a jeep on our way to pick up the wounded from Monte Cassino,' Mr Mann said at his home in Sheldon, Birmingham.

Alfred Mann was in the army from 1941-46

Alfred Mann was in the army from 1941-46

'When I opened my eyes I was in a hospital in Naples and having my jaw wired shut for ten weeks. I guess the doctors just never spotted this bit of shrapnel in there.

'I do have very small bits of shrapnel in my hands and a piece dislodged out of my shoulder two years after I returned from the war, but I had no idea that it was in my jaw and causing me so many problems.

'I could hardly open my mouth before and it caused problems with my speech.' Mr Mann also served in Africa and Afghanistan before returning home in 1946. During the war he also suffered hearing loss.


