At Victoria Station the R.T.O. gave me a travel warrant, a white feather and a picture of Hitler marked 'This is your enemy'. I searched every compartment, but he wasn't on the train. At 4.30, June 2nd, 1940, on a summer's day all mare's tails and blue sky we arrived at Bexhill-on-Sea, where I got off. It wasn't easy. The train didn't stop there. a b c Bernstein, Adam (28 February 2002). " 'Goon Show' Comedian Spike Milligan Dies". The Washington Post. Roxburgh, Alastair. "A Short History of The Telegoons: Voice Actors, Puppeteers & Producers". The Telegoons. Archived from the original on 1 May 2006.

In a 2005 poll to find the "Comedians' Comedian", he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts, by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. In a BBC poll in August 1999, Milligan was voted the "funniest person of the last 1,000 years". [87] The Spike Milligan memorial bench in the garden of Stephen's House in Finchley Milligan died from kidney failure, at the age of 83, on 27 February 2002, at his home near Rye, Sussex. [62] On the day of his funeral, 8 March 2002, his coffin was carried to St Thomas Church in Winchelsea, East Sussex, and was draped in the flag of Ireland. [78] He had once quipped that he wanted his headstone to bear the words "I told you I was ill." He was buried at St Thomas' churchyard but the Chichester diocese refused to allow this epitaph. [79] A compromise was reached with the Gaelic translation of "I told you I was ill", Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite and in English, "Love, light, peace". The additional epitaph Grá mhór ort Shelagh can be read as "Great love for you Shelagh".Some Goon Show scripts feature the names of places where the regiment was encamped. Bexhill, Pevensey Bay, and "Robin's Post" (a private house used by the regiment) each have a script named for them. Milligan was born in the British Empire to an English mother and felt that he was thus entitled to British citizenship, especially after having served in the British Army for six years. When British law related to Commonwealth-born residents (which had given him a secure place in the UK) changed, he applied for a British passport in 1960. The application was refused, partly because he would not swear an Oath of Allegiance. Through his Irish father, he avoided statelessness by becoming an Irish citizen in 1962 and remained so for the rest of his life; this status gave him almost the same rights as a British citizen. [1] [67] [68] Religion [ edit ]

The War (and Peace) Memoirs. (The seven memoirs were also recorded as talking books with Milligan reciting them.) After a stringent Physical Examination they told me. “Sorry, your eyesight isn’t up to what we need for a pilot; however, we have a number of vacancies for rear gunners.” It tells the story of Spike Milligan’s war experience. Or at least the early parts of it. The not joining up, the joining up, the band, the chaos of training and preparation, the sex and the boredom. Milligan’s book is one of the few war memoirs to make clear how much sex was going on then. Like now I suppose but with the added knowledge that the person you were shagging might be dead tomorrow. Which is also true if today if you choose to think about. Which you don’t because that way lies melancholy and poetry. a b "Camera spread: Taking a rise out of the serious supermen in TV commercials, Spike Milligan in Bat-Goons outfit leads BP's sales campaign...". Autocar. 126 (3714): 22. 22 April 1967.VOLUME FOUR OF SPIKE MILLIGAN'S LEGENDARY MEMOIRS IS A HILARIOUS, SUBVERSIVE FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF WW2 On 9 June 2006, it was reported that Richard Wiseman had identified Milligan as the writer of the world's funniest joke as decided by the Laughlab project. Wiseman said the joke contained all three elements of what makes a good gag: anxiety, a feeling of superiority and an element of surprise. [89] Ventham, Maxine (2002). "Jeremy Robson". Spike Milligan: His Part in Our Lives. London: Robson. pp.46–47. ISBN 1-86105-530-7. Eddie Izzard described Milligan as "The Godfather of Alternative Comedy". "From his unchained mind came forth ideas that just had no boundaries. And he influenced a new generation of comedians who came to be known as 'alternative'." [90] Spillett, Simon. [ "Tina May: 52nd Street (and Other Tales): Sings the Songs of Duncan Lamont"]. Jazzwise. Retrieved March 30, 2022.