Peter Kemp > Quotes

“I met another like him, nearly two years later, in San Sebastian, who informed me that he was so disgusted with the British for the way they had let down his Czar that he had ceased altogether to drink whiskey.”
― Peter Kemp, Mine Were of Trouble

“Moreover, to many patriotic Albanians it was by no means clear that an Allied victory was in the best interests of their country; they feared—perhaps I should say fore-saw—that it would result not only in the loss of Kossovo but also in their own subjection to Communist rule.”
― Peter Kemp, No Colours or Crest

“Cardozo had fought with distinction in the First World War, after which he joined the staff of the Continental Daily Mail. Brisk, tough and highly intelligent he was a great war correspondent, in the tradition of Walter Harris, Bennett Burghleigh, Gwynne and other illustrious names of the Balkan and Moroccan wars; he was also one of the kindest-hearted men I have ever”
― Peter Kemp, Mine Were of Trouble

“guess she used to put the horns on him quite a bit. Anyway, about three months ago, just after this war started, she gave him the bird—finally and for good. So he came to Spain to forget his broken heart in the hell and shellholes of Ávila.’ After a pause he went on: ‘What got me was our friend’s description of their poignant parting scene. When he asked her, “Do they mean nothing to you, those nights of love”
― Peter Kemp, Mine Were of Trouble

“He had a bullet in the arm—the nineth or tenth wound of his life—which had damaged the main nerve; but he seemed to rise above it. After a lengthy and painful operation, with only local anesthetics, he found it difficult to sleep, even with morphia;”
― Peter Kemp, Mine Were of Trouble

“I believe that all Spaniards⁠—even those fighting us—wish that this war could have been settled one way or another by Spaniards alone. We never wanted our country to become a battleground for foreign powers.”
― Peter Kemp, Mine Were of Trouble

“pointed to the sentry, who unaccountably had not moved from his slovenly attitude; he was disarmed on the spot and marched away. Colonel Okuyama had him confined in a bamboo cage so constructed that he could neither stand upright in it nor he down; he was fed like an animal through the bars. When I asked the colonel how long this punishment was to last, Miura translated his reply. ‘We have sentenced him to a fortnight in the cage. But if you wish that we should execute the fellow, that can be done afterwards.’ ‘No,’ I answered, suppressing a shudder. ‘That will not be necessary.’ But I had no authority to alter the sentence, and the poor man was still in his cage when I left for Surabaja.”
― Peter Kemp, Alms for Oblivion: Sunset on the Pacific War

“I must confess that we British Liaison Officers were slow to understand their point of view; as a nation we have always tended to assume that those who do not whole-heartedly support us in our wars have some sinister motive for not wishing to see the world a better place. This attitude made us particularly unsympathetic towards the Balli Kombëtar, although the latter was a thoroughly patriotic organization. The Balli”
― Peter Kemp, No Colours or Crest

“In this way I finished the bottle, feeling comparatively little pain during the operation, although I felt a great deal when the effect of the brandy had worn off.”
― Peter Kemp, Mine Were of Trouble