Sergeant J. P. Bruning, MM; Westport; born Westport, 17 Jan 1913; factory hand; p.w. 1 Jun 1941. (Source: Henderson, J. 4th and 6th Reserve Mechanical Transport Companies. p.55.)

'Another swarm of fighters and bombers droned high over the snowy Olympus range and made for Larisa, the sun glinting on their wings and bodies and sending shadows skimming like nightmarish fish along the fields below. A few Hurricanes rose in brief defiance before the aerodrome and its anti-aircraft defences rocked under the impact of high explosives. Soon black and yellow plumes of smoke mingled above unfortunate Larisa, doubly devastated by a recent earthquake and a subsequent raid by the Italian Air Force. Then from the armada came fighters to strafe streets, roads, and countryside and any signs of movement. The RMT area at Nikaia did not escape. Drivers Snell, Frayling, and Bruning turned their Bren guns on a low-flying fighter, and as if angered, it turned, attacking again at tree-top level. Enraged, ‘Battler’ Charlie Snell, a boxer in civilian life, kept blazing away, thumping his chest between bursts and shouting, ‘I'm Battler Snell, you bastard!’ The fire may have brought down the plane, which was found later in the vicinity.' (Source: Henderson, J. 4th and 6th Reserve Mechanical Transport Companies. p. 55.) AWMM