It’s been a hectic few weeks on the military history front. Beginning with the deeply affecting service in Norwich Cathedral commemorating the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore, it has involved interviewing two inspirational veterans – one a nonagenerian … Continue reading →

Maybe it’s a sign of advancing age, but it’s strange how often these days that a new project seems to stir memories of past encounters. Take my latest venture: an article for Britain at War Magazine to mark the 75th … Continue reading →

I can’t be sure precisely when I first read of Arthur Aaron’s extraordinary self-sacrifice. I can, however, remember the book his story featured in. It was Strike Hard, Strike Sure, by Ralph Barker, a former RAF officer turned Daily Express … Continue reading →

It remains an abiding memory of an unforgettable brief encounter with Fred Harris. We’d spent a couple of hours together; he reminiscing and me listening and taking notes for my book on his old comrade, Eric ‘Doc’ Harden VC. Although … Continue reading →

I’ve just been writing an extraordinary story about an extraordinary man on a day that’s turned out be an extraordinary one for my family. My eldest daughter, Katie, has just given birth to a beautiful baby daughter called Pippin, or … Continue reading →

‘Since any story has to start somewhere, this one begins during the worst year of the great world depression, when there came to our school a young student teacher, perhaps no more than 18 years old…’ Such are the opening … Continue reading →

Memories of the late, great Tom Eaton came flooding back to me the other day in a rather unlikely setting. I was sitting in the front room of Sir Reginald Harland’s rather splendid Georgian house in the centre of Bury … Continue reading →

Maybe it’s the wintry weather. Maybe it’s simply the knowledge that another milestone anniversary is fast approaching, but I find myself increasingly thinking of the terrible times 60 years ago when vast tracts of Norfolk’s coastal territory was inundated by … Continue reading →

It’s strange the way patterns emerge, if indeed that it was what they are. Sometimes, things just happen; a set of circumstances, coincidences even. But there are times when it does seem possible to look back on a string of … Continue reading →

It promised to be an emotion-charged day. And so it proved as Julie Wells fulfilled her own mission of remembrance by gifting all her father’s wartime correspondence to her mother to the nation. I was privileged to be invited to … Continue reading →