Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (book)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall, published in 1971, is the first of the series of Spike Milligan's autobiographies. The preface says it will be a trilogy. While the cover of the fourth (!) states "Don't be fooled this is the last, volume four of the war memoirs", in the end there were seven volumes. In Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall, having been stung by a critic who called the biographies unreliable, Milligan writes "I wish the reader to know that he is not reading a tissue of lies and fancies, it all really happened."
The books are in an unusual format that freely mixes narrative, contemporary photography, excepts from actual diaries and letters, sketches, and performance programs, with absurd memoranda from ranking Nazi officials. However, vis-a-vis Milligan's comment about veracity, the hard facts are usually relatively apparent.
In 1972 the book was made into a film of the same name starring Jim Dale as Spike Milligan, directed and produced by Norman Cohen.
Contents |
[edit] Plot Summary
[edit] Part 1
Part 1 begins with 'How It All Started'. Spike is at home with his mother, who is digging the air-raid shelter, and his father when on the wireless Chamberlain states that from eleven o'clock Britain is at war with Germany. Spike talks about life around that time and how his brother, Desmond, and their father go to show some designs and drawings that Desmond drew of tanks and war-machines. Spike writes about his family through different wars and how they died.
Spike receives a letter marked O.H.M.S. while his uncle tells him not to open it. Spike continues to receive these letters after some weeks and eventually they arrive marked "Urgent". Eventually he opens one containing a "cunningly worded invitation to partake in World War II, starting at seven and sixpence a week, all found."
Spike manages to delay the day when he goes to the gym, and, in an attempt to impress watching girls, he gets a slipped disc. After this he was put in Lewisham General Hospital under observation so they could see if he was actually hurt or not. After three months of managing to avoid joining up from his call-up, he attends a medical at the Yorkshire Grey pub in Eltham. After that, he is given a travel warrant, a white feather and a picture of Hitler saying "This is your enemy".
[edit] Part 2
'I Join the Regiment' 'Dunkirk' 'Summer 1940' 'Life in Bexhill'
[edit] Part 3
'1940: How we Made Music Despite' 'Religion' 'Food' 'Application for RAF Pilot' 'Night of the Fire Raids' 'Battery Characters' 'Posting' ' 'Monty' ' 'Barrack Room Humour - Jokes-Pranks' 'Moving to Mill Wood' 'Burning of the Clubs (Mill Wood)' 'In Billets Again' '7.2 Guns and the Tiger Scheme' 'Sports' 'February 1941. Move From Turkey Road School to Hailsham' 'Fight at Robin's Post - In Hailsham' 'Larkhill' 'Learning to Drive' 'Jankers' 'Dieppe' 'Detention' 'December 1942-January 1943 - Embarkation Leave' 'The Train Journey (Bexhill-Liverpool)' 'January 1943 - At Sea' 'Algiers'
[edit] Film
Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall is a Norman Cohen film produced by Gregory Smith and Norman Cohen and directed by Norman Cohen. The film stars Jim Dale, Arthur Lowe and Bill Maynard, with Spike Milligan as Guest Star.
A United Artists release.
