Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Fusilier

Unit:

4/5th Battalion The Royal Scots Fusiliers, 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade, 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, British Army

Awarded on:

March 20th, 1945

Citation:
"In North-West Europe, on 18th January 1945, a battalion of The Royal Scots Fusiliers led the assault on the German positions between the rivers Roer and Maas. When Fusilier Donnini's platoon was ordered to attack a small village, it came under intense fire from the houses and he was wounded in the head. On recovering consciousness a few minutes later he charged down the road, threw a grenade into the nearest window, and with the survivors of his platoon ran in pursuit of the Germans. The British soldiers reached the cover of a wooden barn only thirty yards from the German trenches. From this cover Fusilier Donnini first went out under intense fire to carry into safety a wounded comrade, then a second time and though again wounded, he advanced firing a machine-gun until a bullet hit a grenade that he was carrying and killed him. His great gallantry and self-sacrifice in drawing the enemy fire on himself enabled his platoon to capture the position, and his comrades to overcome opponents more than twice their number."