View source for Peace Work

{{short description|Book of memoirs}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2020}}

{{infobox book
| name = ''Peace Work''
| author = Spike Milligan
| country = England
| language = English
| genre = [[Autobiography]], [[Comic novel]], [[Satire]]
| publisher = [[Michael Joseph (publisher)|Michael Joseph]] (hardback), [[Penguin Books]] (paperback)
| release_date = 1991
| media_type = Print (hardback and paperback)
| pages = 239 (paperback)
| isbn = 0-71-813533-4 |isbn_note= (hardback), 0-14-014970-8 (paperback)
| dewey= 828.91407
| congress= PR6063.I3777
| oclc= 101317496
| preceded_by = [[Goodbye Soldier]]
}}

The seventh volume of [[Spike Milligan|Spike Milligan's]] war memoirs, '''''Peace Work''''', was first published in September, 1991, five years after the sixth volume<ref>Spike: An Intimate Memoir, by Norma Farnes. Harper Collins UK, 2011</ref> [[Goodbye Soldier]].

Unlike previous volumes, there is no preface, foreword or leading disclaimers.

This book spans the period between Spike's release from Combined Services Entertainment in Italy in October, 1946, and the start of his career as a writer for [[Derek Roy (comedian)|Derek Roy's]] [[BBC Radio]] show in October, 1949.<ref>Peace Work, by Spike Milligan. Michael Joseph Ltd, 1991</ref>

==Summary==
Spike is released from his contract with Combined Services Entertainment (CSE) in Naples, Italy at the end of October, 1946, and departs for the UK on the [[QSMV Dominion Monarch]].

Shortly after returning home, he looks up his Army and CSE mates Bill Hall and Johnny Mulgrew to restart [[The Bill Hall Trio]] in civilian life.  They play at numerous venues around [[London]], as well as [[Blackpool]], [[Glasgow]] and [[Dublin]].  They even get a gig on [[BBC Television|BBC Television's]] Rooftop Rendezvous produced by Richard Afton.  They next proceed to perform at the Zuka Exposition in [[Zurich]], Switzerland.  At the end of that engagement, they sign with a Signor Ivaldi to tour Italy, but head back to the UK first.

The Trio returns to Italy, where Spike again meets his first love, Maria Antoinetta Fontana.  But the romance is over.  The trio perform in [[Rome]], [[Milan]], [[Trieste]] and a remote U.S. Army post in Isonzo on the Italian/Yugoslav border.  At this remote post they perform four times in front-line dugouts for the small groups of soldiers manning them.  They return to Milan, and are next booked in [[Verona]].  Their contract with Ivaldi ends, and they detour to visit a friend in Porto Cannero on [[Lake Maggiore]] before returning to the UK.  Their next gig is another Army Welfare tour with stops in [[Berlin]], [[Hanover]] and Minden.

When they return home to the UK, Spike leaves the Bill Hall Trio and joins the Ann Lenner Trio with [[Anne Lenner]] and old friend Reg O'List.    Their first engagement is another Army Welfare Show called Swinging Along.  They perform in [[Hamburg]], [[Celle]], [[Hanover]], Kronenberg and Klagenfurt.

Spike leaves trio after returning home.  He then reconnects with his Army acquaintance [[Harry Secombe]], a fellow Lance Bombardier, and met [[Peter Sellers]] and [[Michael Bentine]].  They refer to themselves as 'The Goons' but just do informal ad-lib sessions.  Spike finally gets a solo booking as part of a variety group for another tour of Germany, this time in the U.S. Occupied Zone.  He performs in [[Berlin]], [[Hanover]], and [[Munich]].

After returning from this tour, and as the book ends, Spike living and writing scripts with [[Jimmy Grafton]] for [[Derek Roy (comedian)|Derek Roy's]] [[BBC Radio]] show.<ref>Spike Milligan: The Biography, by Pauline Scudamore. Sutton Publishing 2003</ref>

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Works by Spike Milligan]]
[[Category:1991 books]]