Italian journalist Gian Gaspare Napolitano spent the closing months of the Second World War in Italy as a liaison officer to the 6th Black Watch, a battalion in the legendary Scottish infantry regiment. In 1945, Napolitano serialized his experiences in an Italian newspaper as the thinly fictionalized "To War with the Black Watch." Fortunately for the reader, Napolitano's engaging and perceptive account has been translated into English in this 2007 edition, which includes a short biography of Napolitano and an historical sketch of the role of the Black Watch in the Italian Campaign.
Napolitano appears in his own account as Lieutenant Giovanni Pinto, who arrives at the camp of the Black Watch uncertain of his welcome with a unit that has been fighting for months against Italian (and German) troops. Pinto is made welcome in the laconic Scottish manner. He will go on to have many adventures with his new friends. His experiences will include the customs of the officer's mess, foraging for provisions, dealing with displaced civilians, and learning to deal with inevitable deaths.
"To War with the Black Watch" is a short read but an entertaining account, highly recommended even in used conditions to students of the British Army at war.