Sunday 7th September

We attended the morning service at the Catholic Church in Bruck and then proceeded south via Graz.

About 20 kilometres from the frontier we were fortunate enough to get a lift to Maribor in Yugoslavia in a Shooting Brake  with an Austrian family.  We were held up at the frontier post by much red tape, for about an hour.  As the various forms were not printed in German we were able to assist the family, with whom we were traveling, in completing theirs!



Upon arrival in Maribor we asked a policeman for the camping place and were directed to a spot some six kilometres outside town.  We were followed by a couple of very curious and laughing girls on bicycles all the way!!

Upon arrival at the camping site, the Warden explained in German that it was too cold to camp outside, so he allowed us to sleep in the changing room in the boat home, on the River Drava.

We purchased bread and a bottle of wine from the little shop which he operated, and then enjoyed a well-earnt meal!

We then had some schnapps and other drinks.  We treated one of the Yugoslavs there to a drink, and soon had him slapping out backs and calling us “comrade” and saying “Yugoslav gute! England gute! Russia nicht gute!” About that time, a young English married couple arrived (the only other campers) and they joined us later with some Yugoslavs in the boat house for drinking and singing.  The Yugoslavs sang many rather mournful songs, and we of course had to sing one or two English songs, such as “Speed Bonny Boat”.   We soon got the impression that they thought Russia wanted to grab Yugoslavia! They were extremely hospitable, and we were treated to many drinks.  There were many laughs and a great deal of joviality, despite the large portrait of Tito hanging up on the wall.

We said good night at 10 o’clock, as we hoped to make an early start in the morning, but the rest of the party kept celebrating until the early hours of the morning.*

Most of the Yugoslavs spoke German, and one, a schoolteacher, had been in the Wehrmacht during the war and had been captured by the English.  He said that he was well –fed, and unlike the prisoners of the Russians – who starved!