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The war is now officially over, but a start has to be made on clearing up the human mess. Don's group moves from northern Italy into Austria and begins a task that will take years...

Thursday May 10th
Called up at 06.00 to get maps for BM. Good things as I was able to get all my kit packed up by breakfast. OR left with Brigadier early so we were left in comparative peace. We lunched at 11.00 and set off from Fontanabona at 12.30. We turned left onto the main road from Udine and headed north to Tricesimo with the hills in front of us. The Lombardy plain is now past us and we shall be out of Italy in an hour or so. Gemona looked very attractive lying on the east of the road at the foot of some high hills. The valley of the Tagliamento was on our left, broad and shoally and just past Venzone we was the confluence of the Tagliamento and del Faro. It was the grandest sight I have seen for many years. Many Bosche burnt out vehicles all the way along this road. From here on the scenery became more and more rugged with the road keeping dead level, a fine piece of engineering. Snow capped peaks towered above the coniferous covered lower hills. The river was turquoise running in various channels through a white bed. A big bridge near to Resiutta was bombed out and many large craters marked the riverbed. The Bosche had very kindly provided a good wooden bridge a little further down over which we crossed. Further along he had blown small road bridges, which were now being covered by Baileys. A large railway bridge just past Dogna has not been blown though I doubt whether the fir branches that had been stick in the girders were effective camouflage. All the railway viaducts and bridges has been paint sprayed. We passed many women and men, all Italian slave workers returning. They were heavily laden with what appeared to be old clothes. Through Pontebbo, a small town and railway station, working to Taravisio the last Italian town south of the border. It was very picturesque lying down in the valley below us. We were absolutely spell bound at the magnificence of the mountains. A few hotels and shops here displayed German signs and names. About 8 kilometres further on we came to the frontier checkpoint manned by CMP. Immediately we crossed the border, only a few yards, you were conscious of being in a different country. Even the landscape became quieter and the valley opened up becoming arable and pasture. The Gasthaus was a familiar place in every group of spotless houses. The men with leather shorts and fly flaps, green hats with chamois tails and peculiar jackets. The women in bodices and aprons over their skirts — it all seemed too much like the guidebook. I have never seen such lush green grass. The hills are covered by dense coniferous forest and the houses are timber with shingle roofs. Occasional timber roadblocks were to be seen but incomparable to the extensive Italian casemates and positions we passed before crossing the border. It was a most wonderful ride through Arnoldstein. From here we began to the first signs of the defeated German army making its way to concentration areas by every conceivable means — foot, horse, car bike and perambulator. These were Colonels, Majors and other high officers padding the hoof with suitcases and overcoats sweating from every pore, as it was hot. All sorts, Hungarians, Bulgarians, etc. The roads were full of them and the Italians going the other way in very poor trim, but in most cases they had an Italian flag in front of them. There were quite a number of women mixed in with the Bosche convoy too. We reached Villach and halted to eat our haversack ration. It’s a smallish town very much spread out mostly neat detached houses. As we entered the town we passed a small group of amazingly dressed individuals dressed in black and white hooped clothes with hat to match, each with a number on his left breast. A number were lying on the ground all in. A sight which shook us all and made us feel the necessity for the non-fraternisation order especially as we had just seen a swaddie arm in arm with a fraulein. We pushed on from Villach to Welden on the coast of the Wörther See, along the banks of which we travelled some miles to Klagenfurt. There were some evidences of bomb damage here. Actually we went to a field just outside the town and camped down here for the night. We had a meal and then a map issue just before it got dark. Everyone seems to be fitting themselves out with German pistols. DaQ has been out and brought in several German cars. Disgusting. Cowboy rigged up a canvas sheet alongside the truck. We slept under that.

Friday 11th May
Up at about 07.00 ready for a move sometime this morning. Pulled out about 09.30 for Wolfsberg. Passed long columns of horse drawn transport of both German and Hungarian Divisions in a pretty bad way. One town we passed was packed with a whole Division’s horse drawn transport. We had considerable difficulty getting through. We passed through several disarming areas where enemy troops were piling up their arms under Yugoslav guards. We stopped near one dump and I hopped out and picked up a brand new Luger pistol and holster. Cowboy got one too. The country here is beautiful and dotted with small farms. We reached Wolfsberg about midday. We passed a freed group of Allied PoWs many British. Wolfsberg is a small country town and we occupied part of the civic centre, which contains a hospital, Landrats office etc. We have a good office with good equipment. Got ourselves established and then went to the Rathaus where all the chaps are billeted and we occupy a dentist’s workshop as quarters and mess. A bit ghoulish as there is a large cupboard full of stuffed birds, reptiles etc. When I returned to the office things were warming up. Maps were made-up and everything prepared for the surrendering enemy commanders. Several turned up, including an area commander from the Balkans — a fat bloated individual with a stick and a blistered heel. Later the General of the Hungarian (Laszlo) Division and he is concentrating his troops under orders. All sorts of odds and sods were turning up all day, stragglers reporting and getting pay books stamped, passes required for here there and everywhere, advice to officers who had had their cars requisitioned etc. etc. It was a hectic afternoon dashing here and there without proper interpreters although we had received the services of an Australian captain from the PoW camp who gave us considerable assistance. Later we received another German officer, a Willi Gärdeke. During the afternoon a South African Flight Sergeant Albert Armitage ESAIC turned up. Things went a lot better and we were packed for about 22.30

Saturday 12th May
Another day of hectic activity. Flying hither and thither trying to advise …from Austrian civilians to Hungarian officers and I was frequently left without interpreters as they kept being taken by the officers. The Australian corporal went today. Albert is a damned nice chap and we get on well. …Of all dangerous suspects, unfortunately he had to arrest his landlord! Most embarrassing. One woman suspect took poison, but not sufficient. Another tried to run away and had to be shot to stop him. Today the officers were absolutely hopeless. As there is no ASS or AMG in the town we have all enquiries to deal with. It’s terrific. Have had no time to write letters.

Sunday 13th May
Busy as hell with one thing after another. We now have Sgt Gordon Leigh, New Zealand, ex PoW to interpret for us. Decent chap. About dinnertime the Russian General of 229 Division arrived with escort to settle the question of boundaries. They certainly shook our stupid crowd of officers. Directly they arrived it was suggested that lunch would be taken first, but the Russian brushed the suggestion aside and said they would finish the business first! I had to letter the English translation of the Russian on the maps. During the afternoon Johnny Legge received a letter from a woman in the signals office reporting a certain family as having looted goods from a train. We weren’t very keen to investigate but Albert pushed for it and we set out. We went to one house and after Albert had done a bit of talking the woman confessed all. She had corn flour, and in an outhouse a saddle, some fur coats and a box of tools. We opened the box and they turned out to be some hand grenades, charges and ammunition. We arrested the woman. Albert succeeded in obtaining more names from the woman and so the scale of the exercise grew. We now organised ourselves on a bigger scale and got civilian police involved in a TCV. The first house or flat we burst into we that of a railway guard who after flatly denying he had taken anything eventually said he had taken some petrol rubber tubing etc. Another place we went into was stacked with tins of food, wine, coffee etc. We made them take it down to the truck. In one house we caught one girl in pyjamas and the other in an awkward position. Another house we entered had a lot of cases of biscuits and dried eggs that were certainly looted. In this house we pulled the stuff from under a bed whilst a woman slept in it. After 23.00 we went back to the first house and collected all the stuff including Pluto and George Davies who had unsurprisingly applied themselves and found a rifle, bayonet and rounds and also a revolver. We gave the guard and the policemen a bottle of the confiscated wine for their trouble. We took Pluto and George up to the mess and poured Curacao and white wine, of which we have several cases, into them. They eventually left some time after 01.00! John and I were just going to bed when the guard commander reported that Fusilier Gould had been taken ill so we went alone. We sat with him for some time and eventually sent for the ambulance. He was in a bad way, either a fit or something brought on by drinking. We got to bed at 03.30.

Sunday 14th May
Went off this morning to Austrian military governor and reported with Albert what we had done about the looting. He was very satisfied and we prepared a document to post up in town and in the surrounding villages. It was our intention to make everyone return the foodstuffs and there would be no prosecution but only should there be any found subsequently. Unfortunately the printer made complete balls up of everything and it was delayed so much that it became useless to continue with the project. Fortunately we stirred the local population up sufficiently and the matter will rest there. Multitudinous visitors and enquiries all day; civilians, impressed slave workers, ex PoWs Bosche etc.

Monday 15th May
Still busy with bags of civilian enquiries and problems. During the last few days many civilians have come down form the north where they report many lootings and rapes by the Russians and the Yugoslavs. It is difficult to believe all one hears but I should imagine the Austrians are not finding life too pleasant, as Russians do not do things by half measures. There is a terrific sorting out going on here. Bulgarians are on our right flank, Russians to the north and Yugoslavs to the south. The Hungarians of Laszlo Division are not to keen on moving around in their area. This evening I spent an enjoyable evening with our interpreter Podizmek and his wife. They have a room in the castle overlooking the town. L/Cpl Hammersley or 27 L came in whilst I was there. It came out in the wash that he was billeted in Cambridge for a considerable time. The FSS 46 Division has now come up. Roy Kelly brought us Bill Dunster’s compliments. It’s going to help a lot to have them in town. Albert and I went to the house of the woman whom we arrested the other day. The boy (ex Hitler Youth) was repentant and Albert talked to him like a Dutch uncle. We eventually decided that he had learned his lesson and that it was rather unjust to proceed any further with the case against the mother. I said I would do my best to get her out, as the consequences might be even more serious for her. Storm this afternoon.

Tuesday 16th May
The unfortunate thing about today is the return of Albert. I felt very sorry to see him go as he and I hit it off extremely well. He was typically South African, and a delightful character. Fred took him back to his luxurious abode in Velden. He forgot his photo paper, which I must forward. Spoke to OR re the imprisoned woman and he agreed and said he will arrange for her release with AMG. We had lunch at the Hotel Alöse with Roy Kelly and his L/Cpl. Extremely good lunch. Apparently this hotel is run by a French colony and the cuisine is extremely good. All the conversation is in French. The most amusing thing was the discovery of a German orderly’s room in the hotel. I managed to lay hands on many useful articles for the office including several jars of paste. We are still getting bags of civilian enquiries of a very complex character. We are apparently moving again to the area of Villach. Advance parties standing by tomorrow. Spent the evening in the mess. KD worn today. A sentry of 254 Artillery Battery was severely wounded al the station during the night. A sweep by 2LIR produced nothing. Sgt Morris SIB came down to investigate.

Wednesday 17th May
Fairly quiet morning. Sent out with Gordon Leigh to get the Albanian Lt of the work company from LIR Stalag. This afternoon sent out to supervised the unloading of some wireless apparatus from a German hospital train. After dinner I went with Willi Gärdeke and McKee to the station. The scene was pretty ghastly. Some of the chaps looked in a bad way, some in plaster and bandages looked like corpses. Apparently the train came from Zagreb and had been shot up by partisans. At one point they lost their engines and pushed the train 14 kilometres by themselves. Later on this afternoon they moved all the worst cases by our ambulances to Villach. The waiting room at the station was turned into an operating theatre whilst the train stood there. The wireless equipment we was two truck loads instead of one half truck as we had expected and we had to do much shunting to get at its. We lifted it in three lifts finishing at 19.00. We took it to the German DMA. Capt. Bond looked at it and found it wasn’t much good for us, only a lighting set engine and some flex. I got some cigars from Sgt Briggs at DMA and some Brantwein (7 bottles) and Vichy water, which fell down the chute. Bond valued the instruments at £1000 a piece — there were very heavy boxes plus other equipment. Whilst at the train I found a Walther pistol and holster underneath the boxes. Nice job. All the Russian PoW from the camp left today under their own officers. They marched through the town. When at the camp this morning I saw General Savchenko and his staff, also a display of horsemanship by some Russian soldiers driving a cart. Evening in the mess. George Davies, Roy Kelly and Clint came in.

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