It’s one hundred years ago today that Great Britain declared war on Germany and “officially” started what became known as The Great War and not so long afterwards The First World War (the name “First World War” was coined early and emphasized the word “World”, meaning it was considered the first world-wide conflict ever and not, as most assume, simply to differentiate it from the following Second World War). Prior to August 4th there was fighting in Serbia and the invasion of Belgium – which triggered the declaration of war – so don’t mistake today as the first day of actual fighting.
One of my novels, a book that I’m very proud of, And In The Morning tells the story of two brothers and a nurse as they struggle to survive Gallipoli and the Western Front. I did a tremendous amount of research for this story and even though I say it myself, if you want to know all about Australian men and women fighting in WW1, you won’t do much better than reading And In The Morning.
The ABC in Australia (The Australian Broadcasting Commission – the government-run television network) is soon running a TV series called “Anzac Girls” and I’ll be really interested to see how close it parallels my story of Rose Preston, the nurse in And In The Morning. Not saying they’ve stolen my writing – I’m just keen to see how well the research matches up.
A second similar novel of mine, called At The Going Down Of The Sun, is currently doing okay on Amazon. However, this is about the Second World War and Bomber Command, and follows the fates of the Lancaster bomber crews and the women of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) who did a fantastic amount of work and sacrificed so much, taking on roles on the ground, to allow the men to crew the airplanes.
You’ll struggle to find a paperback copy of And In The Morning, so an ebook is the go, and At The Going Down Of The Sun is available as an ebook only. These links are to the Australian Amazon store, but it’s available in the US and UK stores, too. If you read either one, let me know what you think!