World War II and Ζάχος Δόγκανος
Lately I have been listening -during my 30min commute- to the audiobook 'Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945', by Max Hastings.
"Inferno" offers an account of the war that concentrates on the lived experience of the men and women who took part in it.
...As military history in the round, conveying to a 21st-century readership the human experience of this greatest and most savage of human conflicts in history, “Inferno” is superb.
Reading -or in this case, listening to- 'Inferno' has further awakened my interest for World War II. I also started watching the six-part french documentary 'Apocalypse: The Second World War', which is composed exclusively of actual footage of the war as filmed by correspondents, soldiers, resistance fighters and private citizens.
Part of 'Inferno' refers to the fighting in Burma, and to the Burma railway (between Bangkok, Thailand, and Burma), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II to support its forces.
The most famous portion of the railway was Bridge 277. This bridge was immortalised by Pierre Boulle in his book and the film based on it, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'.
In one of the most famous scenes of the movie, prisoners of war march whistling the 'Colonel Bogey March', a popular tune written in 1914.
Many humorous verses have been sung to this tune. The best known, originated in England -at the outset of World War II- and goes by the title 'Hitler Has Only Got One Ball'.
Furthermore, the melody has been used numerous times in popular culture. As a matter of fact, one of my loved greek comedy series, 'Εκείνες κι εγώ' (where the main character is called Ζάχος Δόγκανος) opens with the Colonel Bogey March.
