Vincigliata A military batman was a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. In the Royal Navy they were called stewards. The position was generally phased out after the war. There were a number of escape plans from the castle. O'Connor's attempt over the wall had failed, with the inevitable punishment of a month's solitary confinement. Then in mid-September 1942 a tunnel was started and designed by Neame, a Royal Engineer. Various officers took it in turns to work on it in shifts of four hours per day. This was hard blistering work, but they managed
A Personal Record A Personal Record A Personal Record is an autobiographical work (or "fragment of biography") by Joseph Conrad, published in 1912. It has also been published under the titles "A Personal Record: Some Reminiscences" and "Some Reminiscences". Notoriously unreliable and digressive in structure, it is nonetheless the principal contemporary source for information about the author's life. It tells about his schooling in Russian Poland, his sailing in Marseille, the influence of his Uncle Tadeusz, and the writing of "Almayer's Folly". It provides a glimpse of how Conrad wished to be seen by his British public, as well as being an atmospheric