Hi Den! :-)
I am from Germany! My grandpa (as my father told me) served with the german paras and also fought in the Monte Casino area. When my father was a little boy he went with his Dad to the "Oktoberfest" (i think in Englisch it is called "Beerfest" ) in Munich. Well! At this time the tent where the people used to drink beer was a tough place.
There was a kind of "security service" for this tent and my grandpa was picked for it because of his military para training. (and he was strong and tall). Sure this job only lasted as long there was the beerfest. My grandpas "normal" job was in a post office. On this evening my grandpa got into trouble with another man who was drunken, aggressive and attacked him. My grandpa defended himself with a throwing technique and my father asked. "Dad Where you learned this? I never thought you can do such things?" (For my dad my grandpa was a very quiet and almost boring man working in a post office!)
Then my grandpa told him about the Jiu-jitsu / Boxing training he received in the paras.
This was one of the rare situations where my grandpa talked about his military time. Later he refused talking about this topic. He died in 1990.
Well! It´s long time ago but interesting!
Nice Greetings
Florian