Instead of re-posting the fifth part of, ‘the writing of Blood and Bandages’, today I pay tribute to my dear friend and co-author, Bill Earl, who passed away peacefully on 11th March 2022. He was two months shy of his 107th birthday. Our friendship began when William was 94. By then, he had already lived… Continue reading…
This blog first appeared in 2017, and is the second of six blogs on how I wrote Blood and Bandages. Part one is here. I’m sharing my journey with the book’s many fans and to encourage new writers who may be faltering with their projects. Writing isn’t easy and the route is littered with pot-holes.… Continue reading…
Many thanks to Jonathan Hardy for the last guest post. I loved learning of his inspiring decision to carve out his own career. As concidence would have it, Jane Iyer, today’s guest, was involved in his transition to the gig economy. Jane Iyer is the CEO of specialist tour business, Jane’s Singapore Tours. Today, she’s going… Continue reading…
Welcome to Sophie McDermott’s guest blog. She is the first of five guests I will be welcoming on this post between now and the end of September. Each of my guests has inspired or fascinated me and it’s a pleasure to be able to introduce them to you. Sophie McDermott is a graduate, (2018), of Newcastle… Continue reading…
On 7th April, circuit breaker commenced in Singapore to slow the spread of COVID 19. Our routines were mothballed and we were requested to go into hibernation until 4th May. That was manageable, but then COVID exploded in the migrant workers dormitories and circuit breaker was extended until 2nd June. Circuit breaker ended a week… Continue reading…
VE Day and easing COVID restrictions in some countries, has made me reflect on what I’ve learned about myself and how I may have responded to WW2. I had never lived under threat before COVID. The closest I’d come was when I imagined what I’d do if I was alive in WW2. In my imagination I… Continue reading…
Singapore has finally entered the Lockdown Olympics 2020. The announcement came yesterday during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s address to the nation; “We used to see fewer than 10 new cases a day but in the last two weeks, despite our best efforts, we have routinely had more than 50 new cases daily.” Efforts at… Continue reading…
Hello and welcome to this post. I was delighted to learn that book clubs are reading Blood and Bandages, so I thought I’d suggest some questions. Book club questions What do you think happened to Mary and why? 2. With which character did you most identify and why? 3. Would you have understood William’s story without,… Continue reading…
On 11th November, the BBC broadcast a moving and important documentary called Gary Lineker: My Grandad’s War. It had been commissioned from Wall to Wall Media and told the story of Gary Lineker‘s grandad, Stanley Abbs, who had served as a nursing orderly in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Italy in World War Two… Continue reading…
Excuse the breity of this blog. I’m in the middle of tweaking tomorrow’s talk on Blood and Bandages – fighting for life in the RAMC Field Ambulance 1940-1946, and time’s running out. Blood and Bandages was launched in England in April 2017 in front of family, friends, and representatives from the Museum of Military Medicine,… Continue reading…