Mussolini: His Part In My Downfall by Spike Milligan

Author:Spike Milligan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789085241522
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 1977-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

November 24, 1943

My diary:

UP VERY EARLY TO CONTACT OUR GUN POSITION. RECEPTION STRENGTH 9, BUT THE OP STRENGTH 1. WILL TRY AND PUT UP VERY LONG AERIAL.

Fildes’ diary:

Officer from 17 battery arrives to pass on shoot for ‘Jenks’ (Major Jenkins), nice chap, we had an affable day.

The aerial! This was a metal interslotting series of metal poles with a cross-shaped antennae at the top. Its maximum height was twenty feet.

We contacted Ernie Hart at the Command Post.

“Any mail up, Ernie – over.”

“Yes – over.”

“Any for me or Fildes? – over.”

“Hold on.”

We wait, during which time he makes enquiries. “Yes, there’s some for both of you – over.”

“Great. Any news about leave? Over.”

“Nooo. Nothing. There’s a rumour about forty-eight hours in Naples – .”

“Can you tell Edgington that the mist is on the Swonickles? Over.”

“The what? Over.”

“The mist is on the Swonickles – over.”

“What’s it mean? Over.”

“He’ll understand – over and out.”

The pattern of the day is only broken by rushes to do a slash and cook the lunch. We keep our bit of fire area dry by laying a gas cape over it. We make tea about every two hours. Doing a ‘pony’ is difficult and entails getting a rain-ridden bum. Of course, our leader, Winston, he’s not kipping in the back of a truck, no, he and his crony Roosevelt are in sunny Cairo, and as it’s Thanksgiving Day, he’s got Roosevelt carving great lumps of turkey at his villa, and so stoned does the old man get that after the scoff, they put the gramophone on and the Prime Minister of England dances with a Mr Wilson. What’s happening to the war you say? So! Churchill is foxtrotting in Cairo; Milligan is kipping in the mud of Italy; game, set and match to Churchill.

On the 8th Army front, the 78 Div. and the Indian 8th Div. have attacked and got across the Sangro. God knows how they did it in this weather. Perhaps they had umbrellas.

The evening comes in dark and gloomy, Alf boils up a couple of tins of stew, sitting up in bed we eat it and small talk. He tells me his missus has sent him a Conway Stewart pen. I clutch the bedclothes with excitement. He shows me the latest photo of his wife Lily and their two kids. I clutch the bed clothes with excitement. On the morrow we would try and extend the aerial.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.