Spike tries to expand his repetoire
Spike said of Australia:
"It's a wonderful place with a wonderful sense of urgency...
and it's the one place where I can get away from writing
these wretched 'Goon Shows'. I've tried to write other stuff,
but no one will take it over here [UK]. But in Australia,
there's a chance. I'm going back there again next April..."
During Spike's second trip to Australia, in mid-1959,
he received a letter from June saying she was leaving him
and taking the children. He was devastated. During the voyage
home, he took an overdose of sleeping pills. But he'd
forgotten that he'd invited the ship's doctor
to the cabin for a drink. His stomach was pumped.
When he arrived home, the house was empty.
After Spike married his second wife Paddy in April 1962,
they set sail for Australia for four months. Spike had left
his three children back in England, in a convent. He wrote
many letters to his children while he was away. They are
very poignant and it's clear Spike was overcome with
guilt about leaving them for so long.
While there, Spike wrote another series of "The Idiot
Weekly" and a series called "The Spike Milligan
Show" for the ABC.
While staying at his parents' house in Woy Woy, Spike
financed an extension to their house. The house in Woy Woy
was a very special place to Spike. It was here that her
wrote "Puckoon", "Adolf Hitler: My Part in
his Downfall", "Silly Verse for Kids" and
other famous books.
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Paddy, Spike's second wife, accompanied
him on a number of trips to Australia |
