The date of the main photo of my parents escapes me; the small inset photo shows them at their wedding on today's date, March 31st - in 1941. My father had already been conscripted into the army and I guess wearing his uniform on the day saved some expense at least on a very tight budget in those days.
Four months later he was one of around 2,000 men heading off to war from England in the New Zealand troopship, the Rangitiki. Captured at Tobruk, he then spent the next few years in various PoW camps, initially in a camp in Benghazi. The last camp was a workcamp attached to the cement factory of Dyckerhoff und Widmann in Cossebaude, a few miles west of Dresden and from where he witnessed first-hand the destruction in the aftermath of the bombing of that city.
He finally arrived home to his wife in the sleepy village of Claydon in Suffolk, on May 25th, 1945.
Having bought exercise books with camp money in an Italian camp, my father kept a diary of his experiences. I inherited them on his death in 1998, word-processing them in 2000. I was finally lucky to succeed in publication in 2017 with the invaluable technical help of a fellow member of the Winchester U3A Photography Group.
I have always admired my father's resilience and the attitude of respect with which he viewed the human condition and have valued the opportunity to publish his diary. If you have reached this far, thank you for reading...........
And thank you to my 365 friends who have purchased, read and reviewed the book. All small royalties are donated to The Red Cross, without whose food parcels my father felt many prisoners would not have survived.
It was so lovely that so many 365 friends bought and enjoyed the book. Thank you so much for your comment. I am so pleased to have published the diary.
What a very good looking pair….your mum is beautiful Hazel. Good to se the chap I read about here in this amazing photo……so very clear & in good condition. Good to see your mum in a proper dress….my mum got married in a suit.
Yes your book is a great read Hazel….I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it.
What a lovely couple they are, Hazel! I just passed the link along to Ken who read the reviews and said he was definitely going to get it! It's a delight to have followed you through the years so I remember much of your back story as you were gathering all the information together! Happy Easter!
Thank you for reminding me of your dad's story, Hazel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your book and would recommend it to others. Such a well written book detailing such a hard moment in history. Your dad was resilient indeed.
@quietpurplehaze Ken's trying to figure how to "get it" as I guess British Amazon is a separate entity. Today had a lot going on, but he's quite keen to read it, and "will find a way" if possible!
I think you can do 'update location' on the site I gave a link for. There will be a delivery charge to USA. Or you could buy as kindle. Success: I just tried Amazon.com where you can find the book by putting in the complete title as a search!
Oh, that's amazing, Jackie! Thanks for sharing!
It was so lovely that so many 365 friends bought and enjoyed the book. Thank you so much for your comment. I am so pleased to have published the diary.
Yes your book is a great read Hazel….I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it.
I really enjoyed the book and have recommended it to lots of people.
Thank you, Louise for your lovely comments and I hope the book will find favour with Ken. Happy Easter Monday!
Babs, thank you so much!
Lovely comments. Thank you Pat. Have a good day!
I think you can do 'update location' on the site I gave a link for. There will be a delivery charge to USA. Or you could buy as kindle. Success: I just tried Amazon.com where you can find the book by putting in the complete title as a search!