Gino's Birthday

Today is my Italian "brother" Gino's 49th birthday.

Gino never knew his father as he died a few months before he was born.

Gino was the youngest of three children born to Gino and Maria Ciccone.

In the war, Gino senior, who was a child at the time, took turns to deliver food to my father, Dallas Allardice and his friend John MacKay, who were hiding in caves and holes in the ground in the terrible winter of 1943. They were behind the enemy lines and Gino and his family were risking their lives to protect them.

After the war, my father visited the family, my aunt sent them supplies and I went to visit them with my sister Lorna and later, a few times with my family.

The bond is strong and the emotional story of Gino and his sister Tiziana's visit to Scotland is included in my father's autobiography.

                                                Dallas and Pat Allardice (my parents)


My father's autobiography:

Friendship in a Time of War

1980 my brother's wedding and the start of my travels

Today is the 35th wedding anniversary of my brother Graham and his lovely wife Sally. On that day, 35 years ago, I was their best man. It was a slightly nerve wracking experience giving the speech. How to get the tone right, remember the jokes, make sure they were not too racy or rude, entertain but not bore the very mixed audience and do the right thing. I think that I more or less succeeded.

I was the elder brother and I had just found my first permanent job at a prestigious school in Scotland (Morrison's Academy). My parents, and in particular my father, were happy. At last, there was a chance that I would settle down. I had passed my probation and finished my second year. My younger brother had just finished his 5th year, so he was a bit ahead of me (although I had worked in France and in Italy for a year each), but I was about to leave my secure job.

Yesterday, in another key event, my brother had his retirement ceilidh and dinner. He had completed 40 years at the same school.

But wind back to June 28th 1980; the previous November 19th, on my birthday, I had seen a programme on television. It wasn't really religious, but it was called "In The Light of Experience" and the guest was Ted Simon, who was relating his adventure of going round the world on his Norton motorbike for 3 years and the book he wrote; Jupiter's Travels".

Back in my shared house in Crieff, I had a mountain of marking. Many of the pupils had sun tans even though it was winter and they lived in places I had never heard of or was unlikely ever to visit. I had a realisation. I was leaving. In the Times Educational Supplement, there was an advertisement; "Lektors wanted for posts in the Soviet Union". I applied, got an interview, took the sleeper train down to London, passed the interview and handed in my resignation. My serious travels were about to begin and I was headed for Tbilisi in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia.

Link to Rory's Travel Journals on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00NLVSQ6A

Lebanon

In the summer of 2009, I visited the ancient lands of Lebanon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ebooks/dp/B00W3VBQ7A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Politically, at least superficially, it was a period of relative calm.

The journey took in some of the varied geographical sites of the country and the culturally diverse ethnic regions.

Along the way, I met some unique characters and sampled some of the many cultural delights of this fascinating and troubled country.

Around each corner, there were many surprises and delights and this book is a tribute to the place and the people that I met.

This illustrated book includes practical suggestions for the visitor and advice on further reading about the country.

Friendship in a Time of War

My father's autobiography is now available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Friendship-Time-1939-1946-Dallas-Allardice/dp/1508644098/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Friendship in a Time of War

Friendship in a Time of War is the autobiography of Dallas Allardice; former Commando, Scottish Rugby Internationalist, P.E. teacher at Aberdeen Grammar School, Assistant Rector at Dundee High School, artist and drystane dyker.

Book Summary:

Friendship in a Time of War covers a young man’s journey from the playing fields of school and the farmyards of North East Scotland to his training with the elite commandos and actions in the Second World War in Norway, Malta, the Middle East and Libya.

While the actions undertaken were remarkable, this book is not so much about the war, as about the people encountered there and the great and selfless actions of members of extended families, who risked everything to protect the author as a fugitive behind enemy lines.

This is about friendships, which were made, that span the generations. This has nothing to do with the Hollywood films, which were made about the key engagement of the book. This is about ordinary people who met under the most difficult of circumstances and how they rose to the occasion in a victory of humanity over evil forces.

I edited the book and managed to track down many of the protagonists and their relatives in the book and have recorded those meetings in the appendix.

Lefkada, Greece

Lots of references to drama and tragedy, bluff and double bluff, and cat and mouse, as a referendum is announced for next week. People queuing at ATMs only for large amounts as they max out their daily withdrawal allowances. Things are coming to a climax here and the outcome is uncertain.