Months ago, this blog was given the privilege of rapidly looking through part of a mixed collection of memorabilia , mainly the section dealing with New Zealand, and allowed to photograph items of interest . A faded and foxed odd postcard, above, was snapped in passing. without paying much attention . Downloaded into the Little Darwin computer it almost became lost as attention was given to the interesting Kiwi postcards covering politics and Maoris, the demise of the giant flightless bird, the Moa . However, it surfaced a few days ago while looking for a particular postcard, and demanded close examination .
It was headed FINITO MUSSOLINI , the jowly , helmeted Benito Mussolini, the Italian former policeman and journalist , founder and leader of the National Fascist Party , WWll prime minister ,said to have been shot dead by partisans and hung upside down with his mistress, Claretta Petacci , could be discerned . But wait, there was more to the scene ,see below . Inverted it revealed what appeared to be an Australian soldier , in a slouch hat, flushing Il Duce down the toilet. .
Over the years there were several versions of Mussolini's death, which took place two days before Adolf Hitler suicided , including sensational claims that it was part of a British special forces operation aimed at retrieving compromising " secret agreements" and correspondence with Winston Churchill that Mussolini had allegedly been carrying when he was captured.
