A Cunning Disguise!

One never knows when one will be set upon by invading forces.  After Churchill's band deserted me in Singapore all those years ago, I managed to escape imminent capture thanks to a cunning disguise (demonstrated by my good pal, Sgt Bartholomew Finknottle below):

Blackie and Churchill

 Here I am, in my bib and dress socks with my good friend Churchill. 


HMS Prince of Wales
In August of 1941 Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime prime minister, was meeting President Roosevelt of the USA on board this battleship while it was positioned off the coast of Newfoundland; they were discussing the Atlantic Charter. Churchill noticed the ship's large, black cat Blackie apparently about to desert in favour of the American ship Augusta, moored alongside, whereupon he immediately bent down to stroke the cat (left) and stopped him from leaving. Churchill was very fond of cats and at the time had his own 'Nelson' at home.
Blackie was, of course, straight away renamed Churchill and was a much loved mascot. When the ship was sunk later that year off Malaya by the Japanese, with great loss of life, Churchill the cat managed to make it ashore with some of the crew to Sime Road Royal Air Force Station in Singapore. He settled in with them, shared their rations and moved camp with them. But in February 1942 orders came to evacuate Singapore within hours and Churchill, off on one of his hunting trips, could not be found in time. Despite extensive searches, he finally had to be left to his fate.
Image © and reproduced by kind permission of the Imperial War Museum, London: see notice above.

Off duty 1941

As any chap knows when one gets off an all night air raid one simply escapes to the arms of a warm woman. Here you see some nameless filly I picked up in the Blitz. I don't remember her name but I'm sure she remembers mine. Tally ho! Briggy

Raffles

How embarrassing. Thrown out of Raffles for failing to pay off the 1948 bar bill the Brigadier ran up after the war. The compound interest wiped out his Burmese plantation alone. Scoundrels.

Le Chat de Loon...

Thwarted again by the evil automatic food dispenser, the Brigadier consults with several contacts from the UN to coordinate Whiskers food drops to Marrickville.  Lobster Bisque with Gin & Tonic chaser requested.

Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, an old comrade from Rangoon, was immediately ordered to assist.

Learn more about Alastair at Cats that Look Like Dr Who