“The Island of Vis, like its neighbours, is one of several exposed peaks in a submerged mountain chain. It rises out of an intense green sea to some 2,000 feet. Two of its bays, Vis and Komisa are almost landlocked by the steep mountainsides and form magnificent natural harbours. They lie at opposite ends of Vis, and though only 5 miles apart on the map, they are joined by a narrow, stony, tortuous mountain track, which wanders over have the island before descending dizzily again to the sea.

In the centre of the island the rocky hills dominated by Mount Hum enclose a small central plateau, nourishing it with their rains and their stiltings, which the natural chemistry of time and weather have transformed into rich red earth. On it grow vines whose grapes fill the wine vats in every house on the island”

Excerpt from “Island of Terrible Friends” by Bill Strutton – written about one of the Royal Army Medical Corps Surgeons time on the island of Vis.

“From almost anywhere on the island there were vistas of twinkling blue-green sea, framed in the irregularities of limestone cliff. To the east could be seen a lovely panorama, the sunlit sea studded by the other islands. Hvar, Šolta and the looming heights of Brač, white when the light was at its brightest, but after dawn and before dusk a pattern of shifting mauves and blues and ochres, with black outlines. Behind them all, on the mainland, stood the towering backdrop of the Dinaric Alps, gleaming with snow in winter and early spring, still gleaming in summer because the reflections from the jagged white limestone mountains gave the illusion of snow. Spring and summer skies were almost unfailingly blue. The air was pure, scented as the days grey hotter by wild thyme. Amid these persuasive beauties, the Vis Garrison developed its capacity for lethal aggression.”

Excerpt from “A Small War in the Balkans – British Military Involvement in Wartime Yugoslavia 1941 – 1945” by Michael McConville

“We sailed off in small craft – thirty hours or so – and early one morning found ourselves in a tiny harbour – Koruza town – We drove over a fairly good road which climbed steeply from the village and came eventually to the battery area where George was waiting for us. Parked down for the night and next day set to work on our command post. We were too busy for the first few days to pay any attention to the surroundings. We had to be prepared to shoot in any direction at a couple of minutes notice and had to defend the island to the last.

A battalion of H.L.I. (Highland Light Infantry) came over shortly after us and with them a battery of Bofors, a regiment of heavy A/A, a troop of R.S.R.s (Raiding Support Regiment) and three commando units and together with three partisan brigades we were a pretty formidable garrison. We stayed on the defensive for six weeks or so and then began our raids.

The island was a pretty place, about ten miles long by five wide. Two fairly large ports, Koruza, on the west and Vis at the northeast, together with innumerable smaller villages. Lots of beautiful, small bathing beaches. At one Rukovac, the regiment opened a canteen and made quite a popular resort out of the place. On the western side of my command post stood Hum, a tremendous hill with ruins of an old castle on top. I used to love, in the evenings, sitting in my chair and watching the sun set and the day fade away.”

Diary entry from 26th April 1944 from Sgt Observer Frederick Sidney Williams, 212 Bty, 111 Fd Regt in his family’s memoirs “Our Fred’s War”.