大象传媒

My father John Cory鈥檚 story from his memoir 鈥淎 Span of Years鈥� as left to the family, edited by Richard Cory. The opinions expressed here are my father鈥檚.

The end of the war made very little difference to us, we still had our job of looking after the Chetniks. A few honours came our way. One of our chaps by the name of Bloodworth, was awarded the Military Medal for his work on the very last base, when he was wounded at Advance Post 1, but carried on regardless. He wasn鈥檛 with the troop to receive it, having been invalided out to the UK.

The headquarter team that I was in got a commendation and mention in despatches for devotion to duty, although incapacitated by illness 鈥� Dysentery.

Copies of two letters appeared on the notice board, one from the American General and in reply one from the CO of the regiment. The American General wished to award medals to all members of Don Troop who had supported the 10th. Mountain Infantry division on the 5th. Army Front. In his own words he referred to the magnificent work carried out by the troop which contributed in no small measure to the ultimate success of the final attack through the enemy line, and that we were a credit to our regiment.

The jist of our CO鈥檚 reply was that the regiment was highly honoured by his praise. However, Don troop only did its duty, as expected, to the high standards of the regiment. In the circumstances he felt he had to decline special honour to Don Troop.

This was not the end. The General replied and requested a badge of the regiment for hanging in the Hall of Honour, in Washington, to which he would add his citation.

The regiment did not have a specific badge and the CO thought that the design and manufacture of a suitable badge should fall to the lot of Don troop, in other works, we would pay for it.

We decided on the final design and after obtaining approval it was made in oak, enamelled in colours and gold leaf, by Italian craftsmen, We paid for it mostly in cigarettes which were more valuable than money on the black market. We also had cards printed with the badge, which we flogged to the rest of the regiment, thus making a profit for our welfare fund.

To break the monotony of camp life I with friends had a leave in Florence, at an Army rest centre. Once again, as tourists we did the sights in this most beautiful of medieval cities, of palaces, museums, art galleries, churches and gardens. The foundation stone of the cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, was laid down in 1298 and was completed in 1436. The famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, over the river Arno, with its quaint houses and shops, dates back originally to the year 996. Florence did not suffer war damage except bullet marks. The Germans did decide to make a stand there, but the Allies refrained from bombing and shelling and the city was eventually cleared of the enemy by street fighting with the aid of the Partisans. The population suffered a shortage of food and the water supply failed, but their city was saved.

In September we handed in our technical equipment. We spent some time cleaning it up and even painted and varnished the containers. Arriving at the Depot no check was made and we were told to just dump it on the ground. Before we left a gang of German POW鈥檚 were smashing it up with sledgehammers.

Command decided that the Chetniks were too near the Yugoslav border and they were to be moved down to Eboli south of Naples.

It took us four days to search the camp and discovered an odd assortment of pistols, rifles and a machinegun in the false bottom of a box. We then had to frisk them, including the women and children. The women thought it a huge joke and tried to make us feel embarrassed.

The journey was 600 miles in convoy and it took four days, with night stops, and using Chetnik and German transport which was fit for the scrap heap. My bus had no footbrake and smoke was coming up from the engine most of the time. In all there were 22 breakdowns in the first 112 miles, average speed 11 m.p.h.

Duly arriving at Eboli we set up camp and the dull life of guards was resumed, at least we found the weather much warmer this far south.

By this time the refugee organisations were beginning to take an interest in our internees and the process of sponsoring began, so many to America, etc. A friend of mine, Joseph Meisener, an aide to the General and also a gifted painter and sculptor, was awaiting formalisation of an arrangement whereby he would be accepted by the Vatican for work there. Small batches started to leave the camp to begin a new life.

A day trip to Pompei proved interesting. This ancient Roman town had been totally submerged in lava suddenly one night, following an unexpected eruption of Vesuvius. Excavations revealed the town to be almost intact, houses, temples, paved roadways, baths and even bodies of inhabitants that had been mummified by the gases. The ruts made by chariot wheels could clearly be seen, particularly where the chariots had skidded around corners, wearing off edges of the pavements.

Shops were marked by carvings denoting their trade, such as the butcher, chemist and doctor. One carving was covered up but our lady guide unlocked it for us to see. A scale was revealed, the male organ on one side balanced on the other side by a bar of gold. Maybe the origin of the saying 鈥榃orth its weight in gold? We had arrived at the house of the prostitutes. The door being unlocked we were in a chamber with carvings all around the walls, showing a variety of positions in which the sexual act can be performed.

As we were near we visited our orphanage to find the children fit and happy, the food problem having disappeared. The Mother Superior told us that we had been remembered in their prayers and she was glad to see us safe and well, and God would be thanked. And so to Naples where we had a meal and a few drinks before returning to camp.

On the 20th. Of October we received the news that the regiment was to be disbanded and the next day we had a breaking up party, starting with drinks for breakfast. Six of us, all surveyors, were to join the 3rd Survey Regiment but before doing so we had a further 鈥榡ob鈥� to do. Sobering up the next day we were ready for the 鈥榦ff鈥�.

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