BLACK 44

It was just before dawn one miserable morning in black forty four.
When the forward commander was told to sit tight when he asked that his men be withdrawn. And the Generals gave thanks as the other ranks held back the enemy tanks for a while. And the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price of a few hundred ordinary lives.

The kind old King George sent Mother a note when he heard that Father was gone. It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll, with gold leaf and all. And I found it one day in a drawer of old photographs, hidden away. And my eyes still grow damp to remember his Majesty signed with his own rubber stamp.

It was dark all around. There was frost on the ground when the tigers broke free. And no one survived from the Royal Fusiliers Company C. They were all left behind, most of them dead, the rest of them dying.

And that's how the High Command took my daddy.... from me.