Another dictator deficient in the testicle department?

Perhaps there is a reason for his baleful stare

The question of whether Adolf Hitler had one less than the normal complement of testicles was dealt with in depth on the Poor Mouth last year (here and here). Although the jury is out on the number of knackers in Der Fuhrer’s draws, it now seems that Spanish dictator Franco possibly had one lump rather than two.

According to the BBC a new book claims that when he was a captain Franco lost a testicle as a result of a battle injury sustained at El Biutz, near Ceuta in North Africa, in June 1916.

In a new book, Historian Jose Maria Zavala states that Dr Ana Puigvert had been informed of Franco’s condition by her grandfather, Antonio Puigvert. A urologist, Puigvert is known to have treated Franco as a patient. "Franco was monorchid - he had only one testicle," she said.

Were they both members of the One-Bollock Brotherhood?

Apparently biographers have speculated whether this injury had affected his reproductive organs of the dictator. If so it did not stop him fathering a daughter Carmen Franco y Polo, in 1926. (unless he was of course cuckolded by a plucky little private!)

So there we are. I wonder which dictator will be next to be shown to have a meat and one veg. Here is a selection of current odds from Paddy Power:

• Mussolini 3/7 (fav)

• Pol Pot 2/1

• Salazar 5/2

• Pinochet 100/30

• Idi Amin 5/1

• Stalin 7/1

• Papa Doc Duvalier 15/1