大象传媒

The wind screamed down the valley as I got out of my Pup-tent,erected against the stone wall of the vine terrace.Winter in the Adriatic. Eat! The question was what! We had no cooks! They had been left behind, so we had to see to that ourselve. Come to think of it there was no back-up at all. Whereever we went in the past there had always been the basics laid out. Ablutions, toilets, cookhouse,all manned by permament staff.
The first of the new Raiding Support Regiment in the field,one section of 3" Mortars,one of Vickers machine guns and one of '5" Brownings.This was not what we had been formed to do,but typical of the amatuers in the SOE.The needed guards for this conference and we had been elected,even if it meant cutting short our real training (for which we were going to pay very dearly later on).

Here there was nothing, just a bare hillside out of which we were expected to hack all these amenities and live and fight off any hordes of enemy parachutee troops that just happened to drop in to see us at any time.

Let us step back and for a moment note the background here.The modern S.A.S. is made up of specialy selected troops who have been hardened and trained to fever pitch. Equiped with all that they could possibly need in the field. anybody who did not come up to the exacting standards set is rejected as not being able to make the grade.We had no such standards to meet. There was no bench-mark against which we could be judged fit or unfit to carry out the role alotted to us. If we 'fell by the wayside' as many did, if this happened it was a firing squad by the enemy or if they felt in a good mood a stay at a stalag ! a bright prospect - I don't think! The standards for the modern SAS were founded and have grown from these foundations.
Just ordinary blokes,volunteers from the Eighth Army
Now that the Desert War had ended,many felt as if they were un-employed,so when the chance came along to relieve that along to end that boredom they took it.

It was we, who had to 'learn on the job, failure or success - live or die - these were the reality, a reality remembered with pride today by the SAS regiments.

WE started the war by improvisation and so it continued.We were a part of the central Meditaranean Forces and so we occassionally got American rations if not we foraged for what we could find which was very little. Our gifts form Uncle Sam came in cardboard boxes packed for so many men for so many days. It consisted of a variety of eatables from tinned fruit to sausages (soya links) dehydrated vegetables, boiled sweets, little packets of salt and pepper, fags and even toilet paper (a rare treat - use your imagination on that)

So we decided that the best way of seeing after ourselves was for each to be 'the cook for the day'.On the strict understanding that whatever was served up there'd be NO complaints!!

This arrangement could lead to one main problem which was that by the end of the week all that weeks 'goodies' had been used up so the one who cooked at the end of the week had the job of trying to put something O.K. before the rest of the lads for that day. Not an easy task! For the first few days we lived like lords but at the end of the week it was short commons in deed.

Come the day (at the end of the week) it was my turn to stagger from my tent at 7:00 hrs and start cooking. My first task was to to check through the rations that were left before i got breakfast ready. I was astounded to say the least at what was left to us and to my culinary skills. As I peered into the box in which the rations were kept my heart sank. I had to make up three meals for the day out of what was left !!! How I wondered could I make anything out of that lot?
What was I going to fill those rumbling bellies with?

Slowly I raked through the tins and packets, it did not help either to find that some of the tins and packets had no labels on!!Hmm! Lets see, that's tinned bacon and-- ah! ha! Soya links. Blocks of burgoo (army porridge) good stuff and made with condensed milk. What's that? I wondered with alarm as I gazed at some rather unappitising grey - green stuff! Oh not to worry I signed with relief it was only dehydrated cabbage - who knows I hopfully thought it might be good! There was also dehydrated potatoes and onions. Yes I was pleased it was enough for a stew for mid-day,good.

But what about breakfast? Well the tin of bacon should be O.K. I opened it up! cor! what's that grey stuff in there?! Oh, well, lets get the fire going first. To do this I had to build up two rows of stones about a foot apart and about three feet high,long end open to the wind which was coming down the valley where we had our camp. I put in the broken up pieces of vine roots poured over some petrol and covered the stones with some of the empty ration tins which we'd flattened out, put a match to it and we have our stove.Just then I heard someone call,and looking round saw a young Partisan girl.She was beckoning to me.Now this was a dodgy,fraternising with yugoslav women was a very dangerous pastime,so I was very wary as I approached her.She was smiling and holding something out to me,it was a bottle,and she urged me to have a drink.Humm! suspiciouser and suspicouiser! Oh!hell,chance it Rosie! I took a sip.Crikey! talk about Fire-water! I almost choked on it.She laughed and gestured to me to keep the bottle.
What a bit of luck,this'll bring tears to their eye's when I put this in their morning tea!
Now! how about those 'eats'.O.K. First,the Burgoo,then that bacon with plenty of the gippo should go down alright.There was'nt for us to do after breakfast except totry and keep warm which meant getting back in the sack.VIS,the smallest island in the Adriatic,and the only one occupied by us,we were surrounded by enemy held islands,but we were the ones doing the attacking.The Commandos were out again last night.Our job was defence of Tito's HQ.where he was meeting Col.Churchill for a conference as to how the offensive against the occupying Germans would go.However, that was
all over my head,my worry was feeding the hundred thousand,well,not quite though it might as well be.Dinner what have I got Oh! yes,those soya link,generally very un-popular among the regular troops but we were'nt regular by any means,this was iving 'off the land' with vengeance.For instance our 'coffee'was toasted barley,quite an art that,for it would quickly blacken if you did keep a close eye on it.Whats that yellow stuff in the bottom of that bag.Oh! I see,Oleo margerine,in tghis cold it's more like suet.So,I've got plenty of currants that means Spotted Dick,with some of that maize flour.Parachute silk to rap it in and that big dixie will hold a one,just watch it to make sure it does'nt go off the boil.How I congratulate myself on staying helping my Mum in the kitchen as she prepared our Sunday duff.No,custard I'm afraid.Ah!well,here they come,stretching and yawning.We can thank however the genius was how issued us with those new overcoats,canvas on the outside then a layer of water-proofing then a lining of angola woll the same as our shirts,the wind could'nt get through that

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