This is a remarkably different and individual kind of memoir
of Army life between 1944 and 1948. It is different, because,
as Duncan says in the book:
Much of it was typed in Benghazi (occupied Libya) on an old Italian Olivetti
mechanical typewriter that was in the care of the CEP (the Custodian
of Enemy Property).
Duncan's book provides a unique voice. You are alongside
him, really living the life of the raw recruit in the aftermath
of the Second World War. You feel the knocks and hardships of
every 'scheme'(training exercise). You travel with
him from his school in Nottingham through barracks training, officer
training and selection. And then onto the rigours of travel in
a troopship to the Middle East, serving principally in Libya and
Egypt.
Suddenly, you are enveloped in the strange worlds of the desert,
Bedouins, buckshees, the black market, the work of the Graves
Commission, and the seemingly never-ending breakdowns, shortages
of supplies, comradeship and the realities and humour of the British
forces' life overseas. Duncan then takes us to Germany and the
Allies' four war zones in that occupied country. More work
– exhumations of bodies – very hands-on it is too
– and building war cemeteries.
Duncan, from being an 18 year old raw recruit has become an officer.
A man of wisdom, compassion and wit. A captain, and then, at just
21, a civilian once more.
This is a real tale of army life. Dive in and enjoy!
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Desert to Danube
