Venice - The Abandoned City

The Back Story

You all know now about Spanish Flu, the Pandemic that devastated the population shortly after the First World War, although I imagine that prior to the Covid Pandemic the recollections of Spanish Flu had drifted into the realms of Urban Myths. If so, it is not surprising that the Venetian Plague that occurred shortly afterwards has dropped from the European consciousness as if it never existed.

Perhaps I need to remind you of the events that led up to this catastrophe. It was the mosquitoes that started it.

The Venetian Lagoon was famous for the size and viciousness of its mosquito population, malaria from these insects wasn’t unknown, although it was rarely fatal.

Well, actually even though the mozzie’s started it, the cats got the blame.

Malaria in cats is quite deadly and when it mutated and crossed into dogs, a species that had previously been immune, the local population started to worry.

Of course the authorities stated that there was “No need for concern”, this new aggressive form of malaria could not jump between animals and humans.

Of course, events were to prove them wrong.

Within weeks hundreds were dead or dying, and panic set in.

Thousands tried to flee the city but the rest of Northern Italy didn’t want the disease to spread and the authorities imposed a lockdown. Venice is a city built on a number on islands and so the options to contain the population leaving by the land bridges was simple enough, but of course the waterways and lagoon were filled with boats.

The Gondoliers and Water Taxi’s made a fortune ferrying people away from the stricken city. The Guarda, Carabinieri, and Army were called in to defend the rest of the country from the selfish Venetian hordes.

Hundreds more were killed attempting to escape certain death, until it was realised that Malaria isn’t contagious. The Italian authorities then established a quarantine exclusion zone, sufficiently far back from the lagoon to prevent the mosquitoes infecting more Italians and things calmed down for a short while.

Of course with such a fast and panicky exodus from the city the citizens had abandoned almost all of their possessions, this was an absolute magnet for thieves, robbers and even Venetians willing to re-enter the city to claim their or someone else’s belongings. Many attempts were made over the next couple of years to enter the city but by this time the mosquitoes had mutated from the small but deadly insect we know into something larger and even more deadly.

All these attempts failed with almost complete loss of life and Venice was declared a death zone and eventually no more attempts were made.

Dougers, Snappers and Vaggers were on holiday, they felt they deserved it, all three had served King and Country in the war, and then in various capacities over the difficult post war years.

Vaggers had served in the 14-18 war, initially as a Tandem Pilot flying Fe2b’s with his Observer, Jack Cowan

There were many tales to tell but on one occasion they’d been shot down and landed just behind the German trenches. This would have been the end of the war for both of them but the Fighting Fifth, the Northumberland Fusiliers had advanced in the morning and over run the trench line opposite their position.

Vaggers had made a perfect three point landing before hitting the mud, the FEE went arse over tip and both crew were pleased to see the ground not so far away. Unfortunately the plane was upside down and they had to release their harness and drop head first into the mud.

As was remarked in the Mess later it was the safest part of their anatomy for them to land on.

Cowan then received the M.M. when the Germans counterattacked, manning a machine gun and inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Vaggers received a concussion and a fear of heights, at least when hanging upside down over them.

Cowan spent some time in hospital and Vaggers became a Scout Pilot with a knack for getting lost, Cowan had been the navigator, a skill he didn’t pass on.

Three years later when the war ended Vagabond was a decorated Ace with 18 victories on his slate, a strong aversion to balloons, a propensity for the Poteen that C Flight distilled in one of the outbuildings on the Drome and a hair trigger response for anything or anyone approaching from his six position.

Post war Vaggers had bought a 26 ft sailing boat, originally built of teak in India to a Laurent Giles design she was a most seaworthy boat, capable of looking after a novice sailor in any weather but unfortunately called Gorgonzola by her original Italian owner.

Anyway he bummed around on the water for a while, trying to forget, until he forgot what he was trying to forget, but in the process gained an encyclopaedic knowledge of the tides, currents, anchorages and small harbours of the European coast lines. This brought him to the notice of R.N.I.S. Royal Navy Intelligence Service who realised this knowledge would be of inestimable value should there be another conflict in Europe, and given the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, this was almost inevitable.

Eventually the lotus eating lifestyle began to pall just about the time he was contacted in the small fishing village of Argeles sur Mer in the French south west by Biff or more formally, Montague Anstruther-Browne. Biff had been Vaggers C.O. during most of the war, after which he left the RAF and followed in his fathers footsteps becoming closely “involved” with S.I.S. and the Mediterranean was his bailiwick.

S.I.S. had close links with the Royal Navy Intelligence Service and in discussions about the “Venetian Affair” Vagabonds name had cropped up as an expendable resource who might be useful in resolving the affair. Biff had been despatched to sound him out and was a little disconcerted to be told that he and his employers were insane, mad as hatters, it couldn’t be done and Vagabond wouldn’t do it.

Anyway I think I mentioned that Dougers, Snappers and Vaggers were on holiday, a fishing holiday appealed to all of them.

Sitting in a comfy chair, in a small boat, as the white wine cooled in the chill water. A line in the river to snare an unsuspecting fish for dinner and while the white chilled the red was at a perfect quaffable room temperature. Unfortunately they chose to fish in the rather warm River Ven which coincidentally flows into the Venice lagoon, the white took so long to chill that the red was taking a real beating.

During their various services to King and Country they’d all developed some rather noxious habits, apart from alcohol consumption I mean. Snappers had a propensity for cigars, Cuban for preference, virgins and thighs were often mentioned but no one was ever really sure why, although it brought a gleam to Snappers eye whenever he talked about them. 

Vaggers had taken up smoking a pipe, meerschaum from South Africa were considered to be the best but he preferred an old briar, God knows why but no one wanted to ask in case he told them.

Dougers had an investment interest in the Brown and Williamson Company and got a substantial discount on Red Man Chewing Tobacco. Most of the discount was lost in shipping fees from North Carolina to England but he considered the brand far superior to British and American Tobacco (BAT) the main brand in Britain at the time. He’d even tried to convert Snappers and Vaggers to chewing tobacco and to humour him they’d tried it that very morning, without any shred of relish and didn’t intend to try again.

The fishing holiday was going well, they hadn’t caught many fish but to be fair that wasn’t the real reason for them being there. Following Biff’s visit, they had a weather eye on Venice, twenty five miles down stream. Vaggers had discussed the proposal with his two chums and they’d all agreed it was insane; however it piqued their interest and made all three of them curious to see if they could solve the puzzle.

The other reason of course was that the local red was superb, well superb might be to overstate it a little, but after the second or sometimes the third bottle they thought it superb, prior to that it was still very drinkable.

However as I think I might have mentioned, Vaggers had developed a propensity for Poteen during the war which might have affected his taste buds somewhat, but there's no such excuse for the other two though.

It was a Tuesday, the red had flowed fast and loose, Dougers and Vaggers had been sampling farm distilled Calvados from Normandy as Snappers sniffed 26 year old Malt from the island of Islay. Well he drank as well as sniffed it, but the result was the same, the alcohol combined with the heat of the day and they’d all drifted off to sleep.

It’s always disconcerting to wake up suddenly and wonder where you are and as one nudged the other they realised they were in the Venetian Lagoon and covered in mosquito bites. “Don’t worry” Vaggers said, “I have a preparation that Nurse Schultz made up for me during the war, it’s immensely effective, takes the stinging away almost immediately”, that’s when he was sick over the side of the boat. Snappers was sweating like a racoon on heat and moaning confusedly about headache.

“Shape up chaps” Dougers responded, “We’ve got some rowing to do to get back up stream”. As it turned out, he had to do all the rowing himself while Vaggers and Snappers shivered and sweated and moaned and groaned in the bottom of the boat.

The local doctor confirmed Venitian Plague and gave Dougers, who was still his normal boisterously healthy self, the name and address of the local undertaker.

Sadly for the undertaker neither of these two died, but instead recovered quite quickly, something that had previously been unheard of. On the third morning when they both appeared for breakfast Dougers announced cryptically, “it’s the Red Man”. “Are you quite alright old boy” Snappers asked, “concerned for his friend’s mental well being.” “Get away with you” Vaggers exclaimed, “He thinks it’s his chewing tobacco that did the trick, making him immune and saving our lives, that’s plain rubbish” he continued.

“Ahh ha, not so, you cynical young Yorkshireman”, Dougers responded, “while you two have been malingering, Spankers and I have been carrying out clinical trials”. “You didn’t get Spankers to chew your disgusting Red Man did you” Snappers asked with some heat in his voice. He was very fond of Ms Spankhurst, who held a post at Snapcase Hall, one that was important but never really clearly explained. “Don’t be daft” responded Dougers, “Spankers persuaded that young chap Luigi to chew it even though he was most reluctant, she can be very persuasive, as you know”.

“How did you get him to go to the lagoon with you”, Vaggers asked, and answered his own question, “yes she can be very persuasive”, his voice tailed off. “Did he live” he asked curiously. “Of course” Dougers replied with some pride, “I’ve always told you Red Man was good for your health, not like your Rough Shag, that foul smelling stuff you put in your pipe, it smells worse than burning camel dung, and I should know” he said with feeling, thinking back to his time in Jhamjharistan where the smell pervaded everything it contacted.

“Well that puts a different light on Biffs proposal”, Vaggers mused, “maybe we can get into the Doges Palace and survive the Venetian Plague after all, what do you think chaps”. With a gleam in his eye Snappers slowly nodded and Dougers smiled a wicked smile, “it’d be a bit of a jape” he said “let’s do it”.

The decision made, the trio mused over the information Biff had imparted, it all seemed quite far fetched but Vaggers knew Biff of old and if he believed it, then so did Vaggers.

They knew they’d need help and Vagabond sent telegrams to Jack Cowan his original Observer who’s already been mentioned. Then to his partner in the Poteen distilling business Ichiro ‘Taki’ Takahashi, the best wingman in C Flight, they’d flown together for a significant portion of the war, well except for the enforced breaks when one or the other had usually been in the care of Nurse Schultz in the field hospital. Taki was one of the sons of the Japanese Ambassador to London, he was the most aggressive pilot Vagabond had ever come across.

Rumours abounded, most other pilots believed that if he couldn’t shoot down the enemy he would ram them and more than one German Scout Pilot had run for home with Taki chasing after him. He usually flew with his beloved Katana in the cockpit as a symbol of good fortune and had used it once when shot down behind enemy lines. Apart from these few quirks though, he was a good solid chap in a fight, that is if you could keep up with him.

Oh I forgot the full suit of Samurai armour his father sent out to the front, he didn’t wear it when flying of course, it remained on a stand in his quarters but when remembering a fallen comrade in the Mess he would often don the armour and drink to insensibility as a tribute to them.

Taki looking for trouble, trouble finds Taki then Taki out of ammunition and still looking to bag the Hun.

Nurse Schultz had been Vagabonds last telegram, she was an enigmatic character, spoke with a hard flat almost Germanic accent, one he couldn’t quite place and she'd some interesting escapades for a nurse.

Teaticket, HQ’s Intelligence Officer had once demanded Vagabond fly a rescue mission, a plane had been shot down and its crew had used a Carrier Pigeon to pass this info onto Teaticket and their recovery was vital. It was only at the end of the conversation that he mentioned she was in the North Sea and hypothermia would get to her fairly quickly. “It’d be best if hypothermia stays clear of the nurse, it won’t like it if she gets angry” was Vagabonds laconic response.

Vagabond had stolen a Float Plane from the RNAS, they wouldn’t lend it to him without orders and so he stole it at gun point.

Finding debris from the crashed plane he’d landed in the North Sea, praying his balsa wood floats would remain on the plane, fortunately they did and he was able to rescue Nurse Schultz from the water.

You might wonder how she managed to stay afloat for so long, quite simply she’d been using her bloomers as water wings but that’s a very long story and you probably don’t want to repeat it.

This was his first landing on water, at least his first intended landing on water and he ran over Nurse Schltz but as the floats went either side of her she survived the rescue attempt.

The good nurse is represented by the small red bead and it was a close call for both of them.

PIC023

On take off the Hun was right on Vagabonds tail but Nurse Schultz woman’s the rear gun and gets off a wicked burst of gunfire into the German plane, unfortunately his return fire is deadly accurate and the Sopwith blows up in mid air. It’s another long story but they both survived and they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

You might be interested to know that one of the floats did come off in the explosion and allowed them to make it to shore with minor injuries, well until they landed and Nurse Schultz vented her feelings after being run over by a Biplane.

Snappers and Dougers have also enlisted aide from men and women they trust in a fight and shortly they will start to arrive in Treviso the staging point for this expedition.

Well you’re probably agog to know what information Biff had passed on to Vaggers about Venice and the mission he and his chums are to undertake, or you’ve probably fallen asleep by now but I’m still going to recount it and you’ll have to re-wind and catch up later.

Briefly the history of Venice has always been troubled, for many centuries the city was ruled by the Doge, a man elected for life. This was not usually a long tenure because the men elected were almost always elderly and so ensured a constant turnover of rulers which is never really a bad thing.

There were various Councils involved in the governing of Venice, elections and lotteries were convoluted but eventually the main Council controlling the affaires of the Serene Republic of Venice boiled down to the Council of Ten and this was the one Vagabond had been briefed on by Biff at their meeting in Argeles.

The Council of Ten, was established in 1310 by Doge Pietro Gradenigo. Originally created as a temporary body to investigate the revolutionary plot of Bajamonte Tiepolo and Marco Querini, the powers of the Council were made permanent in 1455. They stood somewhat apart from the hierarchy of other offices of state but even initially it was immensely powerful. It controlled secret funds, a system of anonymous informers, had police powers, as well as a broad jurisdictional mandate over matters of state security, and eventually became the defacto controlling interest in Venetian Government.

These were the men who ruled until Napoleon disbanded the Venetian State in 1797. However, powerful men and powerful men’s families exert an influence way beyond their numbers and the Council of Ten was no exception. They were no longer elected but continued to exist and exert a powerful, if clandestine influence on Venetian affairs right until the outbreak of the Venetian Plague, when as you know, everyone fled the city.

During the last war Italy had sided with France and Britain but British SIS were increasingly concerned that with the rise of Mussolini, this alliance would change and they knew that the Council of Ten strongly favoured this eventuality. SIS were fairly certain that documents pertaining to the overthrow of the Italian Government in favour of Mussolini were to be found in the Sala delle riunioni del Consiglio dei Dieci, Biffs translation of this was the Meeting Chamber of the Council of Ten. This Chamber was in the Doge’s Palace but it was, unfortunately a secret chamber, the location known only to members of the council.

All was not lost though because there were 4 keys to enter the chamber, a map to provide the location, a key to the outer chamber, one to the inner chamber and one to open the safe containing the documents. As a strong security measure these passed in rotation through the various members of the Council of Ten ensuring that no outsider could know who might hold them at any one time.

You may wonder how SIS knew of these documents because it does seem rather convenient to the plot line for them to have this knowledge.

It is quite simple really; when someone is dying they feel the need to confess their sins. Catholics tend to do this to a Priest, should that Priest have a powerful enough incentive to reveal these secrets to a third party, those secrets tend to reach the ears of the people who provided the incentive in the first place, in this case British SIS.

It has been said that the British Empire was created by mistake, a piece at a time, rather than by design, it’s also been said that they didn’t keep it, by playing nice.

As the Members of the Council of Ten were no more immune to the Venetian Plague that anyone else, this need to confess meant that the information surfaced quickly, especially when it was given a hefty tug by SIS.

So the brief is simple; go to Venice, search the Palazzo’s of the Ten, discover the keys and the map, then go to the Doges Palazzo and retrieve the incriminating documents. Venice has been empty of people for a good few years and so there should be no outside interference, it all sounded so simple when Biff explained it, except for the Plague and now they had an antidote there should be no real problem.

What Biff failed to tell them, was that the Royal Naval Intelligence Service had already sent a team of men into Venice using re-breathing equipment to get them through the canal system but they had not returned. They tried a second time with the same result, after which they looked for an alternative.

Biff didn’t tell Vagabond this for the simple reason he didn’t know. Due to inter service rivalry the RNIS hadn’t imparted this information to SIS, they weren’t known as the Senior Secret Service for nothing, ‘Secrets are for Keeping’ is their motto and they stick to it.

You may have realised that I’ve resorted to using some AI generated pictures to try and illustrate/break up an interminable amount of text and provide a bit of light relief in the story line. I just wanted to share this last one with anyone who looks through this.

I think the chap on the left is in the side car!

OK, I’m off down to glorious Devon on Thursday to meet up and be royally entertained by the Mad Lord Snapcase at his ancestral home in either Much Piddling in the Marsh or Little Piddling in the Marsh. His estates encompass both villages and the dear folk there both claim him as their Lord and Master. We are hoping that Sir Douglas d’Emfore can join on a video link during the three days of my stay, he has confirmed that within his hectic diary is a window of opportunity on Sunday and the three of us will be searching Venice for the secret documents outlined above on that very day.

Various other games are planned, one in Venice where I hope to assassinate Rommel and save Montgomery all the angst of his North Africa Campaign. Plus four others are planned in the desert, Jhamjharistan, North Africa, Outremer and another one that I’ve temporarily forgotten. I’d never realised that desert terrain could be so versatile.

Hopefully someone got to this point, well done you.

Cheers