Germans.'
'As a foot soldier?' enquired the incredulous general.
'Yes,' said Abel, 'don't you need every man you can get?'
Watux - ally,' said the general, 'but I can put your particular talents to a far better use than as a foot soldier!
'I'll do anything,' said Abel, 'anything.'
'Will you now?' said the gener4 'and if I asked you to place your New York hotel at my disposal as army headquarters here, how would you react to that? Because frankly, Mr. Rosnovskl, that would be of far more use to me than if you managed to kill a dozen Germans personally!
'Me Baron is yours~' said Abel. 'Now will you let me go to war?'
'You know yoxere mad, Don't you?' said General ClarL 'I'm Polisk' said Abel. ney both laughed. 'You must understand,'he continued in a more serious tone. 'I was born near Slonim. I saw my home taken over by the Germans, my sister raped by the Russian& I later escaped from a Russian labour camp and was lucky enough to reach America. rm not mad. This is the only country in the world where you can arrive with nothing and become a millionaire through damned hard work regardless of your background. Now those same bastards want another war. I'm not mad, GeneraL rm, human - '
Vell, if yoere so eager to join up, Air. Rosnovsk4 I could use you, but not in the way you imagine. General Denvers needs someone to take over responsibility as quartermaster for the Fifth Army while they are fightLng in the front lines. If you believe Napoleon was right when he said an army marches on its stomach, you could play a vital role. The job carries the rank of major. That is one way in which you could unquestionably help America to win this wax. What do you say?P 'I'll do it, General.'
qbank you, Mr. Rosnovski? The general pressed a buzzer on his desk and a very young lieutenant came in and nluted smartly.
Ueutenant, will you take Major Rosnovski to personnel and then bring him back to me?'
'Yes, ur' The lieutenant turned to Abel. 'Will you come this way, please, Major?'
Abel followed him, turning as he reached the door. 'Thank you, General,'he said.
He spent the weekend in Chicago with Zaphia and Florentyna. Zaphia asked him what he wanted her to do with his fifteen suits.
'Hold on to them,' he replied,'wondering what she meant. 'I'm not going to get myself killed in this war.'
'I'm sure you're not, Abel,' she replied. 'That wasn't what was worrying me. ies justdiat now they're all three sizes too large for you.'
Abel laughed and took the suits to the Polish refugee centre. He then returned to New York, went to the Baron, cancelled the advance guest list, and twelve days later banded the building over to the American Fifth Army. The press hailed Abel's decision as a 'selfless gesture, worthy of a man who had beer; a refugee of the First World War.
It was another three months before Abel was called to active duty, during which time he organised the smooth running of the New York Baron for General Clark and then reported to Fort Benning, to complete an officers'
training programme. When he finally did receive his orders to join General Denvers and the Fifth Army, his destination turned out to be somewhere in North Africa. He began to wonder if he would ever get to Germany.
The day before Abel left, he drew up a will, instructing his executors to offer the Baron Group to David Maxton on favourable terms, and dividing the rest of his estate between Zaphia and Florentyna. It was the first time in nearly twenty years that he had contemplated death, not that he was sure how he could get himself killed in the regimental canteen.
As his troop ship sailed out of New York harbour, Abel stared back at the Statue of Liberty. He could well remember how he had felt on seeing the statue for the first time nearly twenty years before. Once the ship had passed the Lady, he did not look at her again, but said out loud, 'Next time I look at you, you French bitch, America will have won this war.'
Abel crossed the Atlantic, taking with him two of his top chefs and five kitchen staff. T'he ship docked at Algiers on 17 February 1943. He spent almost a year in the heat and the dust and the sand of the desert, making sure that every member of the division was as well fed