As Mary, aged 95, plays a game of Scrabble with her son John, reminiscences are triggered of her life, covering almost all of the last century. It includes two wars, and it is a story of true... More > courage, adversity and love, over 100 years of change.
A serving girl whose employers ranged from local vicar to royalty; a man from the back streets of Leeds born to a single mother in 1907; a child born out of wedlock in 1930 when condemnation and shame were the normal reactions; and an escaper extraordinaire during five years of captivity in the last war. And a son who didn’t know that Aunt Mary was his real mother until the eve of his wedding, when he married the niece of the French resistance woman who had helped British soldiers in hospital in Cherbourg, en route to the prison camps in Germany. All these elements are there.
It is a fine plot for a novel – except that it’s all true!< Less
Doug Harrison is now in his nineties, but as a young man he was called up to serve with the Green Howards in WWII.
During his service he saw active service at Dunkirk, Cyprus, Iraq, Libya, Egypt,... More > and Italy, before being taken prisoner in Italy.
He escaped from captivity in Tuscany, Italy and lived off the land and evaded capture with the help of an Italian family who put themselves at great risk.
He remained free for 2 years until the Allies arrived and freed him.
This is Doug’s story of those years, of his correspondence with his sweetheart and family—most letters did not reach him and were returned to his family by the Red Cross Association which had no forwarding address for him.
After the war Doug vowed to keep in touch with his Italian friends who had supported him and he decided to donate something in memory of their valuable assistance. His reminiscences hit the British press and a TV programme even covered his exploits.< Less
As Mary, aged 95, plays a game of Scrabble with her son John, reminiscences are triggered of her life, covering almost all of the last century. It includes two wars, and it is a story of true... More > courage, adversity and love, over 100 years of change.
A serving girl whose employers ranged from local vicar to royalty; a man from the back streets of Leeds born to a single mother in 1907; a child born out of wedlock in 1930 when condemnation and shame were the normal reactions; and an escaper extraordinaire during five years of captivity in the last war. And a son who didn’t know that Aunt Mary was his real mother until the eve of his wedding, when he married the niece of the French resistance woman who had helped British soldiers in hospital in Cherbourg, en route to the prison camps in Germany. All these elements are there.
It is a fine plot for a novel – except that it’s all true!< Less
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