P. O. Box 1980

I am a member of the Jersey Group and this year decided to take a long holiday in Italy and Sicily. Having been dry for a considerable period and having neglected my reading and AA thinking at the outset of the holiday, the old desire to try once again became too strong and for a fortnight I had a very gay and enjoyable time at Taormina. Then I began to go downhill and found a double brandy to be necessary before breakfast; this soon became two, and I began to lose friends, fell ill and the old years began to return apace. I sprained my ankle badly and realized that I should have to be hospitalized once again. I could not face this in Sicily where there is no AA. I had enough sense to head for Malta, whither I arrived in a shocking state both physically and mentally. Here, fortune favoured me for, after several ghastly days spent miserably in my hotel bedroom, I was able through the kindness of an Army doctor to enter the King George V Hospital, where I received the most wonderful care and understanding from both the resident doctor and hospital staff.