A major memoir of the Second World War reissued for the centenary of Vernon Scannell's birth. Scannell is considered one of the finest poets of the 1945 war. This book is based on his experiences.
John Bain (Scannell's real name) is a good soldier who becomes a deserter in 1942. He walks away from the battle at Wadi Akarit where he saw fellow soldiers casually stealing from the bodies of their dead comrades. He is disgusted - and starts walking back to Tripoli where he's picked up by the military police. The book describes the harsh interrogations he was subjected to. He is sentenced to serve in the military detention barracks at Alexandria.
Lawrence Durrell made the city famous with his Four Xx but Bain describes experiences that are anything but romantic. The endless brutal routine wears all the prisoners down. The book gives bleak detail after bleak detail after bleak detail.
Bain returned to serve in Normandy and celebrated the end of the war by leaving the army. In an introduction, Scannell hoped the book 'will tell readers something about the Second World War - and perhaps all wars - that is not found in other accounts of military life. I hope too that it might throw a little light on the nature of human courage.'