Exclusive! Why I Had To Abandon My First Novel
Combining my love for writing with military experience
Welcome back to the Woz Report. It's been a few weeks since our last edition, and in that time, Britain has seen the formation of a new government, Donald Trump has survived an assassination attempt, and there are increasing calls for President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race. On a personal note, I've also been busy researching and writing my World War II novel, Elsecar Boys We Are Here.
In recent years, I’ve written about lots of subjects from current affairs to sport, and from technology to sustainability. The recent 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings got me thinking about my grandparents and their wartime experiences. That gave me the drive to do something inspiring in memory of their struggles.
This passion has grown so powerful that I quickly realised I had to write about the poignant chapter in history. With a mix of excitement and trepidation, I made the difficult decision to abandon my initial novel to embark on a new adventure: writing a full-fledged World War II novel, Elsecar Boys We are Here.
In short, the novel gives me freedom to create unique characters, whilst researching the important and interesting historical facts such as Colin Gubbins, and the birth of the Special Operations Executive.
Why Elsecar Boys We are Here?
The village of Elsecar is located in South Yorkshire, England. It’s the place of my upbringing, and traditionally, Elsecar produced pig iron until the later 1800s and coal until 1983. The book centres around the Dawber family’s five brothers, each of whom joins the British military, before setting off across the globe to fight in the Second World War.
The Battle of Britain
Writing the novel is an exciting adventure, and inside the first month of reading and writing, I’ve already learned so much more about the war. 84 years ago, above the skies of South East England, a ferocious air conflict took place, known as the Battle of Britain.
It was during this period when Britain needed the ingenuity of the Royal Air Force’s command and control system to first identify incoming Luftwaffe raids, and then to intercept them. Many of the RAF’s Spitfire pilots logged as few as 10 hours in the skies before going into combat. In contrast, Germany had trained over 15,000 pilots during the 1930s, many of whom had logged 25 times that of the British.
My plan is to publish Elsecar Boys We Are Here before the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Remember to check out the book’s associated website, where you can find my blogs, excerpts from the novel, and engage in discussions about the captivating events of World War II.