Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall

Goon Pod

"Things had been going too smoothly to continue as they were. It really was time we had another bout of applied chaos."

In 1971 Spike Milligan published the first volume of his war memoirs: Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall. The preface to it anticipates that it would be the first of a trilogy; in actual fact six further books were written over the next twenty years. Although AHMPIHD is shot through with Milligan's trademark humour there are moments of sadness and melancholy. Milligan writes: "There were the deaths of some of my friends, and therefore, no matter how funny I tried to make this book, that will always be at the back of my mind: but, were they alive today, they would have been the first to join in the laughter, and that laughter was, I'm sure, the key to victory."

Joining Tyler to talk about this wonderful book is Walter Dunlop and together they tease out the highlights, including:

• Commanding Office 'Leather Suitcase'
• 'Postern blasts'
• Gunner Naze and the high jump
• Throwing a brick at the enemy
• Putting up a tent
• The unique way the soldiers kept their boots soft and supple
• Chamberlain doing Prime Minister impressions on the wireless
• 'Jankers'
• The sheer artistry of Gunner Plunger Bailey
• The faint stirrings of the Goon Show as Spike collaborates with Harry Edgington
• Playing jazz to keep sane
• And, of course, the BLOODY AWFUL Warsaw Concerto

They also examine how the war informed Spike's worldview and subsequent career. If the war hadn't occurred, would we be talking about Spike Milligan today?

Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall remained one of Milligan's proudest endeavours and as he wrote to his friend Robert Graves: "... It sold 30,000 copies and it had to reprint almost at once. I can't tell you how good it feels, for a person whose education ended at 14, to be a bestseller."