THE DAY I OWNED A CITY
David Shaw
Copyright David Shaw 2011
Published by www.bodice-rippers.com Publishing at Smashwords
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THIS STORY IS INTENDED FOR ADULT READING ONLY
They say that Brussels is a dull city nowadays, full of Euro community bureaucrats. Well, I don't know about that, it's been a long time since I was there, but I'll certainly never forget the first few days I spent in the place. That was in September, 1944, just after the Guards Armoured Division had liberated it.
Not that I was a Guardsman, or driving a tank. I was only a very young Corporal working as a service corps clerk. It didn't matter to the Belgians, they were so glad to get rid of the Germans that every British soldier was a hero to them. They couldn't do enough for us, which was a real change from the reception we'd received from the French.
Mind you, nobody needed to look far to see that the locals had been having a very rough time under German occupation. The country might not have been actually starving but it weren't far from it. As for cigarettes, soap, booze, the only way to get any of that stuff in Brussels was on the black market, and if you needed to ask how much it cost you couldn't afford it. So when I put some highly desirable consumer items in a webbing pack one afternoon and went out looking for a good time, I thought I might be in with a chance. What I got was an experience of a lifetime.