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After riding through Rome, Don arrives at the new HQ well to the north of the City and discovers that Field Marshall Kesselring had been there before, but has not left many exciting things…

Friday 7th June (Continued)
Through Rignani to S. Oreste where I was relieved to find Chalky and the road. I was famished and weary having done 100 miles or so. Managed to get a bar of chocolate and biscuits from L/Cp McCullogh and a little later Cpl Brandon more some tea and produced some Spam and biscuits which I supplemented with some onions from the garden. The main body did not arrive until midnight and it had turned very cold and I was without an overcoat. I slept in the open though the dew was very heavy whilst we were waiting for the column. Chalky showed me on the hill to our right, which looked as though a mine was in the hillside by the tips down the side, several tunnels that were smoking. That had been Field Marshall Kesselring’s HQ until 20 minutes before the South African recce arrived!

Friday 9th June
We slept well and got ourselves established in a garage of the house - the HQ. This afternoon JOR and I went up to Kesselring’s HQ. The place is being guarded by 2LIR. We had a look through the map room, greatly disorganised and not much use to us. We the explored the tunnels — each as large as an underground subway with tracks in. One we went down was very hot and smoky almost overpowering. We found four table lamps here. Some tunnels were absolutely solid black- even matches would make no impression on it and the foul atmosphere of burning oil which pervaded over everything. Everything was coated in a black coating of soot. We picked up odd things — including a dead cat, which I nearly put my hand on in the dark. We found what must have been the public relations office with hundreds of periodicals and books in it. Leaving we had a marvellous view form the top of the hill. It just dropped sheer away for some 2000feet and you could see over the gigantic valley for at least 20 miles to where Jerry was. After tea the SC, Griff and Nightie returned with a jeep load of stuff - an engine for lighting set, plates etc. Ossie was hopping mad because the LIR had found some liquor in Kesselring’s place so at 20.00 we went off with Frank. We took lamps with us and went to the place were I found the dead cat and down that tunnel. This tunnel was built up with wood into small bunks equipped with double-decked beds. Ossie found a dead dog! Frank was ultra careful and expected everything to go off bang. Ossie went through the place like a dose of salts, tearing about with the sole ambition of finding the liquor. He vanished through holes in the wall and eventually he found the store. There were bottles all over the floor- empty and cases of Vichy water. We had some of this as it was very hot and dusty. I found a nice china ashtray with Albergo Terme Civitavecchia on it, completely covered in soot. (I remember this ashtray very well. It was in our sitting room in Cambridge for many years after the war, but eventually it got broken. I realised by the inscription that it had probably come from a hotel in Civitavecchia, but I didn’t know until I read this diary that it was the Germans who took it! Duncan) We got odd useful things such as a telephone, paper, paper stapler etc. Frank got some useful stuff in the machinery place. We eventually left, very black at 23.30!

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