THE WAY
IT WAS
One of the Unforgettable Stories John
Steinbeck Tells in
Books by John Steinbeck
CUP OF GOLD
THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN
TO A GOD UNKNOWN
TORTILLA FLAT
OF MICE AND MEN
THE RED PONY
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
CANNERY ROW
THE WAYWARD BUS
THE PEARL
BURNING BRIGHT
EAST OF EDEN
SWEET THURSDAY
THE SHORT REIGN OF PIPPIN IV
Published by Bantam Books
ONCE THERE
WAS A WAR
by
JOHN STEINBECK
Bantam Books • New York
THIS LOW-PRICED BANTAM BOOK
printed in completely new type, especially designed for easy reading, contains the complete text of the original, hard-cover edition. NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.
ONCE THERE WAS A WAR
A Bantam Book / published by arrangement with
The Viking Press, Inc.
PRINTING HISTORY
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, Inc. Its trade-mark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a bantam, is registered in the U. S. Patent Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Printed in the United States of America. Bantam Books, Inc., 25 West 45th St., New York 36, N. Y.
Contents
Contents
Introduction
ONCE THERE WAS A WAR: AN INTRODUCTION
England
TROOPSHIP
A PLANE’S NAME
NEWS FROM HOME
SUPERSTITION
PREPARATION FOR A RAID
THE GROUND CREW
WAITING
DAY OF MEMORIES
THE PEOPLE OF DOVER
MINESWEEPER
COAST BATTERY
ALCOHOLIC GOAT
STORIES OF THE BLITZ
LILLI MARLENE
WAR TALK
THE COTTAGE THAT WASN’T THERE
GROWING VEGETABLES
THE SHAPE OF THE WORLD
THEATER PARTY
DIRECTED UNDERSTANDING
BIG TRAIN
BOB HOPE
A COZY CASTLE
THE YANKS ARRIVE
A HAND
THE CAREER OF BIG TRAIN MULLIGAN
CHEWING GUM
MUSSOLINI
CRAPS
Africa
PLANE FOR AFRICA
ALGIERS
A WATCH CHISELER
OVER THE HILL
THE SHORT SNORTER WAR MENACE
THE BONE YARD
Italy
REHEARSAL
INVASION
PALERMO
SOUVENIR
WELCOME
THE LADY PACKS
CAPRI
SEA WARFARE
THE WORRIED BARTENDER
THE CAMERA MAKES SOLDIERS
THE STORY OF AN ELF
MAGIC PIECES
SYMPTOMS
THE PLYWOOD NAVY
A DESTROYER
A RAGGED CREW
VENTOTENE
Introduction
ONCE THERE WAS A WAR: AN INTRODUCTION
ONCE UPON A TIME there was a war, but so long ago and so shouldered out of the way by other wars and other kinds of wars that even people who were there are apt to forget. This war that I speak of came after the plate armor and longbows of Crécy and Agincourt and just before the little spitting experimental atom bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I attended a part of that war, you might say visited it, since I went in the costume of a war correspondent and certainly did not fight, and it is interesting to me that I do not remember very much about it. Reading these old reports sent in with excitement at the time brings back images and emotions completely lost.
Perhaps it is right or even necessary to forget accidents, and wars are surely accidents to which our species seems prone. If we could learn from our accidents it might be well to keep the memories alive, but we do not learn. In ancient Greece it was said that there had to be a war at least every twenty years because every generation of men had to know what it was like. With us, we must forget, or we could never indulge in the murderous nonsense again.
