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
Viceroy's commissioned officer Viceroy's commissioned officer A viceroy's commissioned officer (VCO) was a senior Indian member of the British Indian Army. VCOs were senior in rank to warrant officers in the British Army, and held a commission issued by the viceroy. Also known as "Indian officers" or "native officers", they were treated in almost all respects as commissioned officers, but only had authority over Indian troops and were subordinate to all British King's (and Queen's) commissioned officers and King's commissioned Indian officers. These ranks were created to facilitate effective liaison between the British officers and their native troops. The soldiers who were promoted