大象传媒

1945 cont.

The first whole day at Grado was spent on the beach with intervals for meals and a sleep in the afternoon. In the evening we went along to the open air cinema and saw the film 鈥淒estroyer鈥� with Edward G Robinson as the star actor. On the second day after a late breakfast I discovered that there was a library and spent the morning browsing through books and magazines which was quite a treat considering how few opportunities I had had to read during the past five or six years. And yet before the war especially when in my teens I read many of the classics including most of Charles Dickens novels. Whilst abroad I carried around a volume containing all Shakespeare鈥檚 plays, which in fact I still possess. It was rather badly stained on the outside at Anzio during the heavy rain despite being in my kitbag but it is still readable. However, to return once more to my narrative, that afternoon was employed to improve my tan and was spent on the beach. Then we all strolled over to see an ENSA show with mainly Italian actors and actresses and later in the evening went back to the open air cinema to see another film called 鈥淩oll on Harvest Moon鈥� with Ann Sheridan.

The third day was not so good. We went down to the beach after breakfast but then, as so often happens in Italy, everything changed and we had to hasten to find shelter from a downpour of rain. However, normal conditions returned later in the day and we all gathered again in the usual evening meeting place to see 鈥淏arbary Coast Gent鈥� with Wallace Beary. June 28th saw us making the most of our last morning at Grado by lying on the beach, enjoying the occasional cigarette and cups of tea. In the afternoon we returned to Starazano.

The very next day we all attended the 56th (London) Division Gymkhana at Gradisca. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day highlighted by the band of the Scots Guards who put on a magnificent show. According to my notes I had to ride a motorbike while carrying an egg in a spoon in one of the events, but I cannot remember the result. I certainly didn鈥檛 win! I had done a lot of motorcycle riding whilst in the army and from time to time had ridden one when on a reconnaissance. In fact I suppose I was fairly skilled as a motorcyclist and never came off or had an accident when on one.

The following afternoon I went to the stadium in Trieste as part of the regimental team to run in the brigade sports. As usual I had to run the 200 yards leg. We did reasonably well as a team but did not win, being out run by the much younger and probably fitter infantry. Nevertheless we had a very good time as there was a great spirit of comradeship within all arms of 56th Division, probably because each individual unit depended to some extent on all the other and had fought together through the length of Italy.

Then followed three nondescript days which began with my being battery orderly sergeant. That night a terrific storm burst overhead and continued for most of the following day. During this very wet period I was engaged on specialists work making certain the stores were in good condition and checking that no items were missing. July 4th saw the beginning of the Italian classes and these were taken by Ernie who had mastered the language and had the difficult task of trying to pass on his knowledge to his rather linguistically dim pupils including yours truly. These went on for several weeks and I must confess to making only limited progress.

Apart from trying to pick up a little Italian, I also joined a class for oil painting which was far more to my liking. Certainly I always did very well when at school with water colours and I found it very interesting to try the other method. One of the unusual results of this particular class was to discover that one of the men taking part was found to be completely colour blind and painted his pictures in the strangest shades. By this time I had completed the hull of the galleon on which I had been working and was given just enough colour to enable me to paint it.

One of the bonuses of life at Starazano was that we could obtain Vermouth very cheaply. The story was that our division had captured a 鈥渨ine factory鈥� during the last battles and we were able to obtain the drink at sixpence half a pint!

These were comparatively carefree days. We still had the odd parade but generally the senior NCO鈥檚 were left to run the battery with somewhat distant overseeing from our officers. There was really nothing to do so far as artillery work was concerned and the only serious parade was no pay day. The Italians were very friendly, the whole region had not suffered in any physical way from the war and we all got on together very well. As an illustration the battery held dances each week and three 3 ton trucks were sent off early in the evening to surrounding villages and collected all the local dollybirds and their mums who cam along as chaperons. For the event a large pile of sandwiches and cakes was prepared by the cooks and during the interval the mums made a beeline for the goodies, filling their handbags as well as themselves. Not that anyone minded, it was all part of the entertainment and no doubt helped the families concerned to eke out their meagre rations.

At this time I was able to make several visits to Trieste, a town that I quite liked. On two occasions I went to have teeth stopped, but what I enjoyed most of all was the journey there and back. The distance was about thirty kilometres by road, which followed the coastline with its sandy beaches the whole way and the sea was visible at many points. At that time of the year the Adriatic was a beautiful blue, there were very few people about and little traffic apart from military vehicles. At one point along the coast road there was a fort or castle from the top of which flew a large Union Jack and on passing it used to think of all those places on this earth which, at that time, was under British control or had links with the United Kingdom. I suppose it was a time when the area of British influence reached its maximum and was all ready for the rapid slide which bean with the granting of independence to the Indian subcontinent.

Around July 15th I suffered a few days when I was quite sure that I had or was about to have another attack of malaria. I knew the symptoms only too well and it was probably only a minor attack. It was certainly in my system and later I had quite nasty bouts in 1947 and 1948 before it was finally eliminated by a course of 鈥淧aludrine鈥� tablets.

From time to time while in this village I was on duty as orderly sergeant and on every occasion I seemed to be kept busy for most of the day. For recreation many inter-troop football matches were arranged and naturally I always played for Battery Headquarters, which was the troop to which I belonged. However I discovered that after running about for some twenty minutes to half an hour I found myself flagging which, at the time I thought was due to my age of twenty-seven years. But now, some forty-six years* later I believe the cause to be the beginning of a varicose condition or at least a malfunction somewhere in the system. At least that is my theory! At half time both teams were supplied with a glass of Vermouth and everybody played better for the tonic, and it helped my legs no end!

For a few days I stood in for the MT (motor transport) sergeant and had to go to Trieste on three occasions to collect petrol which made a break and was most enjoyable. On July 25th I was part of a team that went to Trieste Stadium to run in the Divisional Sports. I was quite pleased with my effort in the 220 yard relay leg but as a whole we were nearer to being last rather than first. But it was all good fun and we all enjoyed both the outing and the experience. The next day I was quite stiff but it soon wore off. Two or three days later we sergeants received an invitation to our Officers Mess for a drink. The festivities went on until midnight and I did not feel all that well the next morning but a sleep in the afternoon assisted my recovery. About this time I was lent a copy of the book 鈥淪he鈥� by Rider Haggard which I found so interesting that I was most reluctant to put it down and I have long since purchased my own copy and several other books written by the same author.

One afternoon was taken up with a football match between my battery and 167 Brigade Workshops. It turned out to be an exceptionally interesting and most enjoyable contest which everybody watched including a few Italians. Needless to say I was among the spectators and not the players. On another occasion we played against one of the other batteries and that was also a good match which we won 4-1. During this period Ernie was away on a visit to Forli for a few days thereby giving me a little extra responsibility as NCO in charge.

Occasionally I was able to get out and about on a motorbike. In fact I think I still had one allocated to me as I can certainly remember cleaning and maintaining it regularly. Also I recorded on August 9th having an exciting journey to RHQ and back in the rain and along a very wet and bumpy road.

During the early part of August I was able to see three films all of which I enjoyed for different reasons. The first was Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh in 鈥淟ady Hamilton鈥� and dealt as much with the life of Lord Nelson as with his lady friend and the plot was centred partly at Naples and in the Mediterranean. Also Nelson was my hero when I was a schoolboy and I suppose, still is. Next came the 鈥淜eys of the Kingdom鈥� which appealed on religious grounds and lastly 鈥淎li Baba and the forty thieves鈥� which of course took us all into the world of fantasy and was a really lovely picture.

Sometimes in the evening Ernie and I used to chat with our hosts, sitting in their garden or sometimes in the road outside the front door. The nights were very warm but not close or sticky as they tend to become in England during the rare hot spells. On other occasions I would go to the mess for a glass of beer when available or a glass of vermouth. Indeed on one evening after drinking too much of the latter I tottered off to the dance but arrived too late and found the band packing up their instruments whereupon I made a complete fool of myself by trying to squeeze the largest drum into one of the smaller containers at the same time staggering about all over the stage. I can still remember the event quite clearly and at least I gave everyone present a jolly good laugh.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end and in due course we were given orders to move. So we busied about for a couple of days packing up all the stores and taking them to the new position. This was followed by a sergeants mess 鈥渄o鈥� before moving the next morning.

However, before continuing I should mention that while at Starazano and up until I left the unit, we saw comparatively little of our officers and I never did find out as to how they occupied their time during this transitory period or even where they were billeted. I suppose they arranged events among themselves very much as we did. Of course they were always on hand when needed, particularly for such things as pay parades, sporting events, dances and so on. In the same way, we sergeants seemed to get together far more and other groups formed and on thinking back the whole battery seldom mustered as one unit and functioned almost automatically or so it seemed to me.

It was on August 15th that we moved and our new home was an Italian barracks at Gradisca and I must say that I did no like the new quarters or the town very much. I was on the rear party which kept me very busy making sure that nothing was left behind and that all the billets were satisfactorily evacuated. I said goodbye to the uncle, auntie and niece with whom I had been staying. I gave the auntie a kiss and her niece gave one to me!

The next day at 0900 hours I was sent off on another four days leave to Grado and being the middle of August it was just the right time to be by the sea. As soon as we got there it was simply a case of dropping our kit on the allocated bed, a cup of tea and down to the beach. Then more tea, cigarettes and those lovely Italian ice creams. That evening we all packed into the open air cinema to see 鈥淎 Thousand Cheer鈥�. In fact, all four days were spent on the beach enjoying the sun or swimming in the sea. In the evenings we saw films. The second was 鈥淭he Uninvited鈥� with ray Milland, the next was 鈥淟ost in a Harem鈥� which appealed to one and all and finally 鈥淩eturn to Bataan鈥�. On one of the days the film was preceded by an ENSA show. Well I am afraid the vacation very quickly came to an end and we returned to the barracks on Sunday August 19th to find everything very quiet so I had a sleep in the afternoon and a drink in the mess in the evening.

The following day was also very quiet and I read most of the time. We were told that there were ninety-four vacancies for a months leave in the United Kingdom. I am not sure whether this was the first bath. It was probably the second and I was fairly hopeful of being one of those selected. In fact the next day I was told that I would be leaving on the 26th which raised morale no end. It would be three years to the day since leaving England and as I have said previously, was long overdue. However, better later than never.

On the 22nd we spent most of the time packing up all our stores and equipment and handing it in to a central pool and that was really the official end of us as an artillery unit. We were now nothing more or less than a collection of soldiers of various ranks occupying the barracks at Gradisca and waiting for two events to take place 鈥� leave in the UK and most of all demobilisation. Over the next three days we passed the time with art and Italian classes, getting our kit sorted out, cleaned and pressed, reading and generally whiling away the time. We would stroll outside occasionally, but I cannot remember ever taking a good look round the town. There may have been some interesting parts to it, but as I have already mentioned my recollection is of a rather glum place, although I may be doing it a disservice for after all we were living in gloomy barracks but undoubtedly had a depressing effect when compared with our previous locations.

At last Sunday August 26th arrived and in the afternoon we left by lorry, which took us as far as Udine where we caught the train at 1920 hours. It just crawled along for most of the journey all through the night and finally stopped at 0800 hours the next day so that we could disembark and get some breakfast. Finally, at midday we arrived at Milan where we were to stay for three days. Part of the time was spent sightseeing in the city. As usual we saw a film, which featured Bud Abbot and Lou Costello and of which I can still remember odd parts, but I failed to make a note of its title. We had a very good meal at the Sergeant鈥檚 club and an even better one in an Italian restaurant not far from the cathedral. Otherwise we stayed in the camp, which was very well run, especially for soldiers going on leave and was equipped with the necessary canteens.

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