Sergeant Major
T is not often that an ordinary soldier can bring his story to life on the microphone, but it happens occasionally, I wish to pay a tribute to the superb effort of the British Sergeant-major who was present at the suicide of Himmler and broadcast in a BBC newsreel shortly after. It was pure Gerald Kersh style, and I particularly enjoyed the incident when Himmler, directed to his bed by the sergeant-major, said to an interpreter, "He doesn’t recognise me": I said, ‘Yes, I do; you’re Himmler. And that’s still your bed. Sit down.’ He tried to stare me out," said the ser-geant-major, "but I stared back, and pretty soon he dropped his eyes,"’ Nothing, however, can convey in cold print the immense gusto of the speaker and the way in which the exigencies of his profession had given him perfect command over his language resources for the purpose in hand-a terseness and economy which, far more than Basic English, exemplified the principles of functionalism in speech. "He died in about fifteen minutes. And we threw an army blanket over him; and left him,"
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19450615.2.22.4
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 312, 15 June 1945, Page 12
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186Sergeant Major New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 312, 15 June 1945, Page 12
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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