Being a Grammar School lad myself I was drawn to the two part series, “Grammar Schools – A Secret History”, which was broadcast in July this year on BBC4. One of those talking about his experiences was Charles Chilton, broadcaster, writer and producer, who worked for the BBC for 46 years and who in due course was awarded the […]
Archive | Behind the Stories
“An Expedition to Amiens” – Arras South – Page 137
Second Lieutenant Thomas Rathesay CONNING, MC, who was killed in action on the 27th May 1917 serving with the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was one of several of the battalion’s officers who spent an evening of recreation in Amiens while the unit was still on the Somme. Part of that excursion involved a decent bath followed by dinner at the Restaurant Godbert. One of the […]
“Another veteran of the Messina earthquake” – Arras South – Page 239
Italy is no stranger to earthquakes, but the first time I became aware of the Messina quake, which struck at around 5.20 a.m. on the 28th December 1908, was while researching Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery. The entry in the CWGC register for Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Arnold LLOYD-JONES, DSO, Royal Army Medical Corps, notes that he held the Italian […]
“Going overdrawn – one man’s account” – Arras South – Page 274
One of the many interesting characters in ‘Arras South’ is Company Serjeant-Major Frederick William WATSON, 5th King’s Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry), who fell in action on the 27th August 1918. The CWGC register for Gomiecourt South Cemetery shows a bar to his Distinguished Conduct Medal, in addition to the Military Cross, despite the fact that nobody to date seems to […]
Some issues regarding the Military Cross – Arras South
One of the decisions I had to make when writing all three “Visiting the Fallen” titles was whether to include awards and citations of the Military Cross. My first thoughts were that it would prove too time consuming and that I should only include those recipients to whom one or more bars were awarded. It was only about two years into the […]
“More brothers-in-arms” – Arras North – Page 86
I always said that “Visiting the Fallen” was likely to be an on-going project, even extending beyond the publication of all three books. New material will always emerge and the website will come in very useful to cover it. There is also the hope that all three books will, at some stage, be reprinted, in which case additional information will be […]
“The devil is in the detail” – a story about Roeux” – Arras North
The village of Roeux proved to be an exceedingly difficult nut to crack. On the opening day of the Battle of Arras the 4th Division had been unable to extend the gains made by the 9th (Scottish) Division, at least not to any significant degree. By the end of the 9th April our new line fell short of the road linking Roeux and […]
“Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland” – Arras North – Page 276
Brief mention is made in “Arras North” of the Duchess of Sutherland and her important commitment to hospital work during the Great War, for which she duly received the Belgian Royal Red Cross, the British Red Cross Medal and the French Croix de Guerre. On the outbreak of war she immediately organized a field ambulance, taking it to […]
“The Llandovery Castle” – Arras North – Page 216
Reference is made in each of the three books to the sinking of the HMHS “Llandovery Castle” off the coast of Ireland on the 27th June 1918. The majority of those on board the hospital ship perished and only twenty-four survived. Among those who died was the sister of Major Harry Frank SARE, 87th Battalion, Canadian […]
“Walk a mile in my shoes” – Arras North – Page 32
In an interview, referring to her books, “Wolf Hall” and “Bring up the Bodies”, Hilary Mantel pointed out that we have the enormous benefit of hindsight when considering the main historical figures in her work, whereas, at the time when the events in her books were unfolding, her characters didn’t. Although her protagonists were real people, she could only make them credible by stepping […]