Tag Archives: world war 1

Day 22 #bfotc sources

by thehistoryinterpreter

Day twenty-two of the ‘advent calendar’ focusing on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

CaptureWhen tackling the horrors of the Western Front, I chose Abraham Tuke as my ‘point of view’ character. Research into his background revealed that he had been the editor of his college magazine. I decided that, like others involved in the Great War, he might relieve the stress of being in a combat zone by writing poetry. I re-read the classic World War One poets, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sasson, Rupert Brooke, Lawrence Binyon and other well known names. I was also fortunate to have access to a collection of works by poets who are not household names and whose work is a little less polished, The Forgotten Tommy Poets of WW1. I tried to absorb the topics, the timbre and the language used in these poems. The subject matter frequently addressed the futility of war, the blundering of those in authority and the sheer boredom that was punctuated by death and fear. Often, a certain black humour permeates the lines that they composed. This research allowed Abraham to write his own poems; poems that I hope sit comfortably with those written during the war. I did reassure myself that he did not need to be a very accomplished poet! The poetry that I read was also very helpful in my attempt to keep the phrases, the euphemisms and the slang in period. I am not sure that my vicarious poetry writing will inspire me to write more verse but I am tempted to find time to read poetry again, something I have not done for decades.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.

Day 7 #bfotc sources

by thehistoryinterpreter

Day seven of the ‘advent calendar’ focusing on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

Fromelles 1916 by [Cobb, Paul]I had chosen the character who was to be my vehicle for portraying the battlefields of the Great War. It turned out the the campaign in which he was involved was not one of the more famous ones, unless you are Australian. The Battles of Fromelles features prominently in the Australian narrative because there were huge numbers of ANZAC casualties. Most of the books are written from the Australian point of view and for a secondary account, I relied most heavily on Paul Cobb’s Fromelles 1916. I am not a miiltary historian; I was after impressions, not a minute by minute, accurate narration of the events. Nonetheless, I did need to have an overall impression of what occurred and this book provided me with that.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.

Of Kindles, Witches and Poppies: or how to buy books

by thehistoryinterpreter

Amidst all the #100daysofbfotc blogs, it has been a while since I wrote of other things. Life has been busy; what‘s new? There have been visits to and with descendants, articles to write, courses to run and presentations to give. With All Hallows Eve in mind, my talk about Seventeenth Century Witchcraft has been requested a couple of times, always one that leads to fascinating audience discussion. Also with a seasonal flavour, my colleagues have been out and about recreating life at the time of the Great Fire of London; although I am never quite sure why schools think it is appropriate to book these sessions to coincide with Guy Fawkes Day!

On the subject of anniversaries, preparations for our parish commemoration of the centenary of Armistice day have reached fever pitch. Our village green is bedecked with knitted poppies, we have recruited volunteers to represent almost all of the 90 service personnel from the parish (and have hopes of getting the full complement before next week). Songs of the era are being sung, communal food is being prepared. Every service person has a mini-biography hidden on our history group website, ready to go live at 11am on 11 November (I hope!). I have been in to the local school to chat about Remembrance and the children have produced some wonderful art and written work. It has been four years in the making and next week, all that hard work, by many people, will come to fruition. Someone was heard to mention that next year is the 75th anniversary of D-day and should we be celebrating that? I did turn a deaf ear; someone else can organise that one!

Now to my own personal excitement. Although I finished writing Barefoot in the Cobbles in March, in the few weeks I have been at home since then, the time has been spent editing and marketing. This week, I conquered the learning curve that was necessary to convert Barefoot into Kindle format. I do hope I have got it right. It looks ok to me. So, you can now pre-order copies for your electronic device here. Having said that, I am really hoping that potential readers will opt for paper copies too. There are 54 boxes of books in my very small house. I do need to sell some – please. If you are thinking of buying this book I have been harping on about for forever, please do read a bit more about it first. It won’t be to everyone’s taste and I don’t want people to be disappointed.

3dIf you still think you might enjoy my creation, can I make a plea that you purchase a copy directly from me, either at one of my many events or other talks, or by emailing me. Alternatively, I would encourage you to order online from my lovely publisher, Blue Poppy Publishing and for the next 13 days, you get £1 off and free postage to the UK. These options deplete my stock, as would ordering from your local independent bookshop. When buying my book, or indeed any other, please make the convenient ‘buy it now’ Amazon button your last resort. It is the easiest option and if you qualify for free postage, it has great appeal. In the past, I have been as guilty as anyone of taking advantage of this immediacy. In my case and that of many other authors who are not working with major publishing houses, it means that you will get a print-on-demand, slightly inferior quality, version and that the stock pile in my house remains the same. You don’t need me to tell you where almost all of the, already very meagre, profits go in this case. The position is obviously different for overseas readers, who will need to use the links on their own versions of Amazon to avoid the horrendous postage costs. Actually, at the moment, I am still struggling to upload a version for Amazon orders of the printed copy but hopefully I will get there by launch day, another learning curve. Two weeks to go!

#100daysofbfotc Day 49: Will Harding

by thehistoryinterpreter

William HardingAs we meet Will Harding, in the penultimate chapter of Barefoot on the Cobbles, he is on his way home from a tour of duty on a merchant ship, just after the end of the First World War. Harding is the forgotten victim in a Clovelly tragedy whose tale is oft told. Whereas the event, which is included in the novel, acknowledges his companion, Harding’s name is not usually mentioned. It was only when researching for the book, I realised that two men were involved. I will hold my hand up to Will’s age being wrong in the novel. I could pretend that there was some valid literary reason for this but then you might ask me what that was. In my defence, Will is very vague about his age on official documents but I can’t justify why I chose to use the incorrect one.

William Robert Harding was actually born in Clovelly in 1882, son of Richard and Mary Ann Harding née Whitefield. Both families had a long seafaring tradition and Will joined the merchant service. He married Rosa Evelyn Jenn in 1903 in Cardiff and they had a son and three daughters. He served on a number of ships together with other Clovelly men.

‘Weary and apprehensive, Leonard hauled his kit bag on to the cart and hunched down next to Will Harding, an experienced sailor who looked older than his thirty four years, with weather-hewn face and prematurely balding pate hidden under a cap. Will was a family man, eager to get back to his pretty wife, his near-grown son Billy and three little girls.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.

#100daysofbfotc Day 35: The Western Front

by thehistoryinterpreter
Fromelles German Federal Archives This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.

German Federal Archive Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license

As a significant proportion of Barefoot on the Cobbles is set during the First World War, it needed to contain a scene from the Western Front. This was a challenge. I write by researching my characters’ geographical and emotional backgrounds, not in a vacuum. For the rest of the book, which all takes place in Devon, understanding the physical landscape, albeit with a twenty first century slant, was straightforward. Many of Barefoot’s main characters are female and although I am not a young female, I was once, so I can get inside their heads. I have never visited the battlefields, I have no experience of being on active service and I am not a young male. The thought of composing the battle scene was daunting.

I had already chosen the character, Abraham, that I would use for this part of the book and was interested to discover that he lost his life in one of the lesser known battles, a least from a British perspective (this particular battle has much higher prominence in Australian history). I had already formed an impression of Abraham’s personality but how would he respond to a war zone? I was unable to go to France while I was writing this novel but I read diaries, letters and memoirs written by those who took part in the battle. This gave me a much greater understanding of the landscape and help me to empathise with Abraham. I hope that I have created a believable character and a realistic environment. Despite having serious misgivings about my ability to think and therefore write, from the point of view of a First World War soldier, this is the chapter that I am most pleased with.

There are so many, oft used, words and phrases to describe the Western Front: horrific, damaged, muddy, bloody, terrifying, boring, a tragedy, ravaged; all those things. I think I will leave you with some words from chapter 8. ‘Across the plain where the purple clover once bloomed and the swallows used to dive, men prepared for death in a blood-stained ditch. The lurking mist that accompanied the persistent drizzle obscured the view but the deathly crumps of falling shells resounded as the wire-cutting party were sent into the abyss. From the vantage point of the higher ground, the Germans were set to defend the salient without thought for the cost in human pain.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.

#100daysofbfotc Day 21: Leonard

by thehistoryinterpreter

Leonard Braund c 1916Leonard’s story forms a sub-plot in Barefoot on the Cobbles. We follow his adolescent romance with the girl in the local tea-shop; one of the lighter moments in the story. As the First World War tightens its grip, Leonard has important decisions to make regarding his future. The dangers of his life in the merchant service create another concern to be heaped on the burden carried by his mother. A local fishing tragedy unfolds through Leonard’s eyes.

After the novel finishes, Leonard returned to the merchant service. He followed generations of his forebears fishing in local waters and was to man the safety boat during lengthy repairs to Bideford Bridge. He married and had four children, two of whom died in infancy, succumbing to the same condition that took his young brother. He spent his married life in Bideford and passed his love of the sea on to future generations.

‘There would be no fishing again today, thought Leonard. The sea, its vagaries, its beauty and its menace was the counterpoint to his life; an all pervading rhythm to which his body and his soul must respond.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.