Food for you. How many times has Rob uttered those words or the Italian equivalent on entering this apartment? Peering towards the open door, he observes his younger self walk into the living room, tins weighing down overcoat pockets, a smile coating his lips. An Allied airman bearing gifts, potent symbols of his nation’s new-found status. Victor to vanquished; rations to help preserve life for a few when so many have been slaughtered in the struggle to liberate a city already battered by the retreating army. Saviour a misnomer, he was simply a man overwhelmed by the stench of poverty and the consequences of interminable war, evident with every step he took on the streets of Naples.
He had joined up to help defeat a ruthless enemy, convinced war presented the only possibility of restoring
