Narrative: My dad told me two wartime stories that did not, for reasons that will become obvious, make it into his written diary. I relate them here, today and tomorrow, in the style of the rest of the diary. The dates and locations are not known so I have approximated them, based on the circumstances described.
Early July, Normandy
“One night before turning in I noticed that one of my men was missing. I made some enquiries and, accompanied by my 2IC, went to a certain farmhouse some distance away across the fields. The errant private had consumed so much of the local Calvados that he could no longer walk unaided. Between us we half-walked, half carried the man back to our billet, taking the road as this was much easier. Part way back along the road, I heard a scout car coming and to my alarm I realised that an officer was about to find a drunken soldier ‘absent without leave’. The man was blissfully unconscious so we positioned him by the roadside as the car approached. The car’s headlights were shuttered for wartime safety, so we were only dimly illuminated. The officer enquired what was happening and I explained that we had recently been notified of a casualty from the recent fighting and were marking the body for collection in the morning. He expressed appropriate regret, but accepted this explanation and went on his way. The soldier was appropriately regretful in the morning.”