Ive been sent by his family a fascinating unpublished memoir by Captain Norman Sarsfield of 56 Reconnaissance Regiment, 78th Div. It includes a surprising incident while stationed at Vastogiradi, on the Gustav Line northeast of Cassino: ... the village was completely without any sanitation. People performed in pots and carried the contents out into the fields where each had his own heap ... My batman, Allsopp, was a pretty wise lad as befits a Covent Garden porter and he would regularly tour the heaps of nightsoil around the village and then come back and report to me if he had seen any sign of a household heaving eaten port. No animal could be slaughtered in the village without our written permission, but of course they his them and slaughtered occasionally whenever they could. When Allsopp had identified the criminals I would send a corporal and two men to that house and demand the meat. We got whatever we could and the men certainly enjoyed roast pork on those occasions. So the British were trying to manage the locals food supply?
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 11:35:16 +0000
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