Helena P. Schrader's Blog, page 12

The Characters of "Moral Fibre" - The Wireless Operator - Terry Tibble

  "Moral Fibre" is a novel about a Lancaster crew at war. Yes, Kit Moran, the "skipper" (pilot), is the principal character. Yet each member of his crew is a unique individual with his own backstory, personality, dreams and fears. Each contributes to the whole, both as a trained professional in his particular trade and also as an element that shapes the character of the crew as a whole. Today I introduce Terence "Terry" Tibble, the Wireless Operator or Signaler

Excerpt 1:

The sergeant was skinny though not short. His face was crooked, with a mouth full of too many teeth jumbled together and a long nose that bent in the middle, presumably from a break that had not been properly set. Everything about him screamed poverty , the nose hinting of scraps and brawls. Yet the dark framed glasses gave him an aura of vulnerability. Intuitively, Kit knew this was not the kid who picked fights; he was the kid others ganged up on.

The sergeant drew a deep breath, "Your crew said you were still short a wireless operator, sir."

"That's correct. Are you interested in the job?"

"Yes, sir. If you give me a chance you won't regret it, sir. It's true I can't see particularly well, but I don't need to for my job." It all spilled out at once as if he'd been practicing phrases in his mind. "It's because I'm half-blind that I've trained my ears, sir, and I'm very good with Morse, sir. Twenty-eight words a minute, thirty on a good day." He stopped apparently expecting this fact to impress.

It did. After all, Moran had never managed better than eight or nine words a minute. Forrester's warning rang in his ears though. Completely wet, the Australian had said. Nor was this sergeant the type of bloke Adrian and Stu would warm to. Still, Kit was reluctant to brush him off. "What's your name, Sergeant?"

"Tibble, sir. Terence Tibble. Been called 'Terry' as long as I can remember."  ...

Damn it! Kit thought. Terry reminded him of all the orphans his mother had 'adopted' over the years -- the abandoned children left to fend for themselves with one kind of handicap for another, but a hunger to learn. Kit liked a man who liked books, and if he didn't take Terry into his crew, he might wind up with a worse pilot and an even poorer chance at survival. Kit's problem was that he questioned whether Terry would get on with the others. Adrian and Stu were too posh, while Nigel was too cheeky.

Terry is in many regards the exact opposite of Adrian. A child of the slums who 'never had a Dad', dumped in an orphanage when his mother could no longer cope, he has no choice but to start earning a living at 14. At sixteen he is working in a paper mill. Far from being an imposition or unwelcome interruption to his life, the war is the gateway to opportunity and adventure. Terry volunteers for the RAF the moment he turns 17 and he cheats on his eye exams to get accepted. The RAF is an escape from the drudgery of his deadend past.

But Terry doesn't really fit in. He's an introvert by nature, who in his free time prefers to read in his room than spend money on alcohol and girls. When he's with his more gregarious colleagues, he pulls into his shell and hides behind a book. Yet he reads to expand his horizons -- to go places he's never been and learn about things he'd never hear of before. He's naturally curious and full of questions. Given the chance he learns fast, reflects on things and forms his own opinions -- characteristics that Kit rapidly learns to respect. Despite his youth (he's only 18 when the novel opens) Terry pulls more than his weight and Kit comes to rely on him.

Excerpt 2:

At Conwy Castle Terry surprised Kit by declaring, "I suppose Hitler will be remembered as one of Germany's greatest leaders."

"What on earth are you talking about? He's a madman."

"Yes, I suppose," Terry replied, weighing his head from side-to-side uneasily. 'But we think of Edward I as a great English king because he subdued Wales and Scotland, don't we? How's that different from what Hitler's done for Germany by conquering Poland and France and all the rest?

"In 1940, Hitler might have seemed great to the Germans, but we've got him on the run now. Germany is retreating from its occupied territories while we systematically destroy industrial and military capacity inside the Reich itself. By the time we've forced him to surrender, Hitler will be seen as one of the worst leaders Germany ever hand."

"So, everything depends on winning?" Terry pressed him. "If Hitler had won the war back in 1940 or 1942, he'd be called a great leader, but if he loses then he'll be declared a disaster?"

"Well, no," Kit countered, uncomfortable with that notion, "After all, more and more evidence is coming to light about terrible atrocities -- things worse and on a scale far beyond anything we saw in the last war. So, even if he had won the war, he's still be a murdering, racist madman!"

Then Kit had a second thought and with a sheepish grin he admitted, "But I suppose, if he were to win the war, eh'd be able to tell people how to write the history books, so future generations might not cotton on to just how bad he was." Kit's grin widened. "That's another reason why we have to win the war, Terry: So, we can write the history books our way."

" MORAL FIBRE" WON THE HEMINGWAY AWARD 2022 FOR 20TH CENTURY WARTIME FICTION

IT ALSO RECEIVED A MAINCREST MEDIA AWARD FOR MILITARY FICTION AND WAS A FINALIST FOR THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD 2023 IN THE CATEGORY HISTORICAL FICTION.

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

The Characters of "Moral Fibre" - The Navigator Adrian Peal

 Moral Fibre is the story of a bomber pilot, which means his crew inherently plays an important role in the novel. They are the men Kit both depends on and for whom he is responsible. Each of them is an individual with a backstory, a character and dreams of their own. I have striven to depict them as sharply as possible and to make the reader care about them too. The most important of Kit's crew was his navigator: Adrian Peal.

Before talking more about Adrian, it is important to understand that unlike the USAAF, which simply assigned men to a crew, the RAF relied on an informal procedure for "crewing up." Once men were sufficiently proficient in their own trade (i.e. pilot, navigator, bomb aimer etc. ) to be ready for operational training, they were sent to an Operational Training Unit where men from all the six trades necessary to man a heavy bomber collected. Here the trainees were collected in a large hall and told to "sort themselves out." This process occurred quite early on in training, usually within the first two weeks, and it lasted until every pilot had a complete crew. Thereafter, the men trained together as a crew. 

Excerpt 1:

Standing in the echoing hall filled with eager young men chatting, laughing, gesturing and shaking hands, Kit felt like bad luck. Tapping someone on the shoulder would be like the grim reaper pointing a finger at them. On the other hand, if he approached no one, he would be left with the dregs, the men no one else wanted. The result would be a crew of misfits, further diminishing his -- and their -- chances of survival.

Then an odd thing happened. Pilot Officer Peal walked over to him. As one of the few commissioned navigators, he and Kit had run into one another regularly at the officers' mess. Tall, blond, slender, and elegant, Peal was a film-maker's image of an RAF officer. Forrester alleged that Peal's father was a famous and successful barrister, while his mother was supposedly the daughter of a fabulously wealthy American "railway baron." Kit mistrusted rumors of this sort, but there was no question that Peal had a ready smile and an easy-going nature combined with the manners of a perfect gentleman.

"Moran?" He smiled as he approached. "Any objections to me as your navigator?"

Objections? Moran already liked the modest and soft-spoken Englishman. Furthermore, hea nd Peal had shared a couple of pints just a few days ago, during which they had discovered a common interest in buildings, Moran as a would-be civil engineer and Peal as a man with a degree in architecture. What mattered most, however, was that Moran had flown with Peal, and he was absolutely first-rate as a navigator. Peal had been precisely atop of every check point dead on time. If anyone was not a misfit or the dregs, it was Peal. If further proof was needed, Forrester had targeted Peal as the man he wanted for his crew. Moran glanced towards the Australian and, sure enough, Forrester was making his way back across the large chamber in evident haste.

Still reeling from the unexpectedness of the offer, Kit stammered uncertainly, "No, of course I have no objections. I'd be pleased to fly with you, Peal--"

Peal didn't give Kit a chance to express any reservations. He broke into a smile and held out his hand. "Shall we go by first names? I'm Adrian, in case you forgot." 

As this excerpt highlights, the navigator on Kit's crew, is the only other commissioned officer. He is the son of a wealthy and successful lawyer and was expected to follow in his father's footsteps. He has only just evaded this fate to follow his own inclinations and pursue a career in architecture. His ambitious American mother, however, expects her sons not only to excel at everything but also always be prominently successful. Her first born has never disappointed and is now a Royal Marines commando. But Adrian, the younger son, is an artist and a dreamer at heart and war poses a particular challenge to someone as sensitive as he is.  In the past, Adrian has dealt with being different from his peers and his parents expectations by trying to disguise and deny his natural inclinations. He has learned to "fit in" and lose himself in a crowd. This tactic served him well at the exclusive boys schools he attended, at university and in the years of training in the RAF.   Yet Adrian soon discovers he can be himself with Kit and a real friendship develops. They share a room and go on leave together. Kit is introduced to Adrian's parents -- and defends him against their suspicions of "weakness." Both men feel their friendship is a rock in the storm of violence around them.

Yet nothing can adequately prepare Adrian for the reality of combat. When Adrian is temporarily "loaned" to Red Forrester (because Forrester's navigator has fallen sick), he discovers things about himself he would rather not have known -- and Kit must find a way to help his friend without degrading the combat-effectiveness of the entire crew and mission.
Excerpt 2: [Kit] climbed down the ladder [out of the Lancaster] in [Group Captain] Fauquier's wake, parachute slung over his shoulder. Suddenly  Forrester was in front of them shouting, "Peal's a bloody coward! He froze and nearly got us all killed! If my bomb aimer hadn't taken over the navigation, we'd have drowned somewhere out there! I won't fly  another mile with him! I want him off the squadron--"
"He's my navigator, Forrester!" Moran broke into the flood of indignation. "You've got no right to--"
"Shut up, both of you!" Fauquier cut them off. "We don't discuss things like this at the top of our voices in front of the ground crew on the tarmac. Follow me."
He led them back towards the Mess, found the first empty room, and slammed the door behind them before confronting Forrester. "Now, start over again in a reasonable one of voice."
"As soon as the first burst of flak went u, Peal turned into a bag of shitless jelly, literally shaking and unable to calculate a thing. I didn't need a course for the bomb run, so I ignored him until we'd dropped our load, but when it was time to turn for home, I asked for a heading and he didn't answer me. The wireless operator tried to shake him out of his daze, but he just covered his head with his arms. My bomb aimer had to take over the navigation with the help of the wireless op. Peal's worthless, and I won't fly another mile with him."
Fauquier didn't say anything for a moment. Then, softly, he responded, "You don't have to. My navigator can fly back to Woodhall Spa with you tomorrow, and Peal can fly with me. Now go to the debriefing hut and report to the intelligence officers, but without mentioning this to them or anyone else."
Mollified, Forrester started to withdraw. As he reached the door, he paused to remark to Moran sincerely, "Sorry, Mate. I know he's become your friend, but he's a worthless coward the moment flak opens up. The sooner you get rid of him the better."
"I'll be the judge of that," Moran answered tersely.
"Suits me fine. Won't be my neck," Forrester retorted and was gone.
Fauquier said nothing for a moment or two, then he suggested, "I don't need you at the debrief, Moran. Why don't you go and find Peal? Hear what he has to say for himself and tell him he'll be flying back to Woodhall Spa with us."
"Yes, sir.  And, sir, I'm willing to fly with him no matter what."
"I thought you might feel that way. We'll see."

 

" MORAL FIBRE" WON THE HEMINGWAY AWARD 2022 FOR 20TH CENTURY WARTIME FICTION

IT ALSO RECEIVED A MAINCREST MEDIA AWARD FOR MILITARY FICTION AND WAS A FINALIST FOR THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD 2023 IN THE CATEGORY HISTORICAL FICTION.

 

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

The Characters of "Moral Fibre" - The "Aussie" Red Forrester

 Kit Moran flew 36 operations as a flight engineer before he started operational training as a pilot. That makes him both cautious and circumspect. Yet he is forced to push himself beyond his comfort zone by the cheeky Australian "Red" Forrester, who is intent on competition.

Excerpt 1:

“Look, Red, can’t we lay this to rest?”

“What?” Forrester answered with a pretense ofinnocence.

“Your resentment over the fact that you got a redendorsement in your logbook on Black Friday and I didn’t.”

“Yeah, sure — if you can tell me one good reasonwhy I got that endorsement and you didn’t! We both disobeyed orders!”

“I can’t answer that, Red. I don’t endorse thelogbooks, the CO does.”

“Well, I can!” Forrester snarled. “Because you’re aPom and I’m a Colonial, that’s why.”

Kit could identify with Forrester’s resentment.He’d been in his shoes. But he also thought Forrester was wrong. “I canunderstand why you feel that way, but actually I’m not as ‘Pom’ as you think Iam.” He paused and then admitted, “I’m classed as coloured in South Africa.”

“What?” Forrester swung around and gawked at him.

“My grandmother was a native South African. Black.”

“Are you stiffing me?”

“No. Furthermore, I admire you for landing withouta green given the circumstances in which you did it. I wish I’d had the courageto do that — and that’s precisely what I told the inquiry panel. I’ve alreadytold you about pausing in the corkscrew and throttling back to let your reargunner get in a good shot. I still think it’s risky, but it seems to work. I’mperfectly willing to admit you’re a more natural pilot than I am. Whether Ilike your crew as individuals or not, I recognize that they’re a first-rateteam. Now, can we bury the hatchet?”

Forrester seemed to think about this for a moment,and then he grinned and clapped Kit on the shoulder so hard it jostled him.“You’re all right, mate!”

“No more rivalry?”

“Ah, no.” He shook his head. “I didn’t say that. Ican’t stop myself. It’s just the way I am. But don’t take it wrong, mate. Wecan be friendly rivals.”

Red is an Australian pilot who arrives at the same Operational Training Unit as Kit Moran at the same time. They share a room, and they soon become, well, bitter rivals. Forrester is ambitious. He wants his crew to be the best in everything -- flying, bombing, gunnery, navigation. He selects a crew of like-minded individuals, who are as aggressively competitive as he is.  And when they do well at anything, they brag about it.

In the course of the novel, this sets up several situations where Moran is forced to make choices and take actions that would not otherwise have been necessary.  Forrester acts as a foil to Moran. He forces Moran to re-evaluate who he is and what he wants. He is the shadow that sets Moran into greater light. 

Excerpt 2:

About an hour later Forrester arrived and made a beeline forKit and Adrian. “Well, if it isn’t Zulu Moran himself!” he declared in a loudvoice that turned heads across the anteroom.

“That’s not—” Kit started to protest, angry with himself forconfiding in Forrester about his background. Adrian caught his eye and shookhis head sharply. Kit understood. If he protested, he’d only increaseForrester’s delight in this new nickname; by laughing, he rendered it harmless.So, Kit laughed and went on the offensive, “What happened to you? A girl take exceptionto your amorous advances?” Forrester had a black, swollen eye and a bad, jaggedcut on his chin.

“Had to teach some snotty Americans a lesson,” Forresteranswered grinning. “Best fight I’ve had in years. What are you drinking?”

Kit and Adrian let him buy them a round, and Forrester pulledup a chair beside Kit. “So, give me the gen on the Lanc,” he demanded.

Kit smiled and kept the tone light and bantering. “She’s notat all your type, Forrester. She’s a lady. Steady, sedate, smooth, andsophisticated.”

Forrester wasn’t offended. “Think I can’t handle a lady? I’llbet I solo on her sooner than you do.”

“Save your money. You may need it to pay bail next time youdecide to break things.”

“I’ll give you odds. If I solo first, you pay me ten bob, butif you do, I’ll pay you a whole quid.”

Kit didn’t want his reacquaintance with the Lanc rushed by thepressure of competition. He shook his head. “No, thanks. I told you before I’mnot a gambling man.”

“I’ll take the bet,” Adrian offered his hand to theAustralian.

Forrester shook it firmly. “Glad to see someone on Zulu’screw has balls. Bet’s on then!”

“Your money, but for the record: it’s not getting in the airfirst that counts but getting back again too.”

 

MORAL FIBRE WON THE HEMINGWAY AWARD 2022 FOR 20TH CENTURY WARTIME FICTION

IT WAS ALSO A FINALIST FOR THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD 2023

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

"Moral Fibre" - The "Aussie" Red Forrester

 Kit Moran flew 36 operations as a flight engineer before he started operational training as a pilot. That makes him both cautious and circumspect. Yet he is forced to push himself beyond his comfort zone by the cheeky Australian "Red" Forrester, who is intent on competition.

Excerpt 1:

“Look, Red, can’t we lay this to rest?”

“What?” Forrester answered with a pretense ofinnocence.

“Your resentment over the fact that you got a redendorsement in your logbook on Black Friday and I didn’t.”

“Yeah, sure — if you can tell me one good reasonwhy I got that endorsement and you didn’t! We both disobeyed orders!”

“I can’t answer that, Red. I don’t endorse thelogbooks, the CO does.”

“Well, I can!” Forrester snarled. “Because you’re aPom and I’m a Colonial, that’s why.”

Kit could identify with Forrester’s resentment.He’d been in his shoes. But he also thought Forrester was wrong. “I canunderstand why you feel that way, but actually I’m not as ‘Pom’ as you think Iam.” He paused and then admitted, “I’m classed as coloured in South Africa.”

“What?” Forrester swung around and gawked at him.

“My grandmother was a native South African. Black.”

“Are you stiffing me?”

“No. Furthermore, I admire you for landing withouta green given the circumstances in which you did it. I wish I’d had the courageto do that — and that’s precisely what I told the inquiry panel. I’ve alreadytold you about pausing in the corkscrew and throttling back to let your reargunner get in a good shot. I still think it’s risky, but it seems to work. I’mperfectly willing to admit you’re a more natural pilot than I am. Whether Ilike your crew as individuals or not, I recognize that they’re a first-rateteam. Now, can we bury the hatchet?”

Forrester seemed to think about this for a moment,and then he grinned and clapped Kit on the shoulder so hard it jostled him.“You’re all right, mate!”

“No more rivalry?”

“Ah, no.” He shook his head. “I didn’t say that. Ican’t stop myself. It’s just the way I am. But don’t take it wrong, mate. Wecan be friendly rivals.”

Red is an Australian pilot who arrives at the same Operational Training Unit as Kit Moran at the same time. They share a room, and they soon become, well, bitter rivals. Forrester is ambitious. He wants his crew to be the best in everything -- flying, bombing, gunnery, navigation. He selects a crew of like-minded individuals, who are as aggressively competitive as he is.  And when they do well at anything, they brag about it.

In the course of the novel, this sets up several situations where Moran is forced to make choices and take actions that would not otherwise have been necessary.  Forrester acts as a foil to Moran. He forces Moran to re-evaluate who he is and what he wants. He is the shadow that sets Moran into greater light. 

Excerpt 2:

About an hour later Forrester arrived and made a beeline forKit and Adrian. “Well, if it isn’t Zulu Moran himself!” he declared in a loudvoice that turned heads across the anteroom.

“That’s not—” Kit started to protest, angry with himself forconfiding in Forrester about his background. Adrian caught his eye and shookhis head sharply. Kit understood. If he protested, he’d only increaseForrester’s delight in this new nickname; by laughing, he rendered it harmless.So, Kit laughed and went on the offensive, “What happened to you? A girl take exceptionto your amorous advances?” Forrester had a black, swollen eye and a bad, jaggedcut on his chin.

“Had to teach some snotty Americans a lesson,” Forresteranswered grinning. “Best fight I’ve had in years. What are you drinking?”

Kit and Adrian let him buy them a round, and Forrester pulledup a chair beside Kit. “So, give me the gen on the Lanc,” he demanded.

Kit smiled and kept the tone light and bantering. “She’s notat all your type, Forrester. She’s a lady. Steady, sedate, smooth, andsophisticated.”

Forrester wasn’t offended. “Think I can’t handle a lady? I’llbet I solo on her sooner than you do.”

“Save your money. You may need it to pay bail next time youdecide to break things.”

“I’ll give you odds. If I solo first, you pay me ten bob, butif you do, I’ll pay you a whole quid.”

Kit didn’t want his reacquaintance with the Lanc rushed by thepressure of competition. He shook his head. “No, thanks. I told you before I’mnot a gambling man.”

“I’ll take the bet,” Adrian offered his hand to theAustralian.

Forrester shook it firmly. “Glad to see someone on Zulu’screw has balls. Bet’s on then!”

“Your money, but for the record: it’s not getting in the airfirst that counts but getting back again too.”

 

MORAL FIBRE WON THE HEMINGWAY AWARD 2022 FOR 20TH CENTURY WARTIME FICTION

IT WAS ALSO A FINALIST FOR THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD 2023

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

The Characters of "Moral Fibre" - Fiona Barker

  The female protagonist of "Moral Fibre," Georgina, faces feisty opposition to her plans and dreams from her best friend, Fiona. A woman ahead of her time, Fiona doesn't think women should be financially or emotionally dependent on men.She wants her own career and she's determined to stand on her own to feet. Yet she's an attractive young lady too, and our hearts aren't always obedient to our minds.

Excerpt 1:

“Dear Kit,” the letteropened.

“These last two weeks have been the most terribleof my life. I have watched Georgina sink in a flood of her own tears, hardlyable to breathe for grief. She is wasting away for lack of food and sleep, andnothing will console her. Watching her, holding her, trying to comfort her hasmade me realise how terrible this thing called ‘love’ really is. My beautifulfriend is being destroyed by it. I know that she will never be the same. Oh, Iknow, time heals all wounds, but Georgina will bear the scar of what Don hasdone to her for the rest of her life.

“I hope that thetime will come, when she realizes that the only one to blame for her misery isthe man who so callously shattered her happiness with his selfish ego! Don andhis pretensions of being better than everyone else! His anachronistic, aristocraticnotions of ‘duty’ and ‘honour’ have killed a beautiful, fragile, and utterly selflessbutterfly” Fiona’s anger was evidentin the deep grooves her ball-point pen had impressed upon the heavy stationary.

“Watching Georgina suffer, made me see more clearlythan before why I would not and could not ever commit myself to you. I am determinednot to let you break my heart and scar me for life. The best way to ensure thatdoesn’t happen, is never to see each other again.

“It makes no difference to me that you don’t shareDon’s class delusions of superiority. Nor does it matter that you have refusedto fly any more operations. Georgina tells me such a refusal is very seriousand could result in some sort of disciplinary action. I hope that whatever theydo to you isn’t too terrible, because I think you are only being sensible notto want to fly any further operations.

“However, I told you before you started this secondtour that I thought it was foolish and unnecessary. You wouldn’t listen to me. Ithurt me terribly that you insisted on doing this thing that I knew was wrongfor you. And though I did not see it at once, I now know that our relationshipwas doomed the moment you would not listen to me. In that moment, you put yourself-image as some sort of storybook hero ahead of a meaningful relationshipwith me.  It doesn’t change anything thatyou have now learnt the hard way that I was right.

“So, this is good-bye, Kit. I honestly wish you allthe best. At least now you won’t die for some silly dream of being a hero, andmaybe next time you’ll listen, when a woman tells you something for your owngood.

“Sincerely, Fiona.”

Fiona like Georgina is training to be a teacher, and she's extremely good at it. She's not just top of her class in the theoretical subjects, when she starts her apprentice teaching she soon shines. She has not only energy and ideas, she's also practical and thick-skinned enough not to worry about being liked. The result is almost instant success and a job offer.

But Fiona is also a rebel. She resents the restrictions placed on women. She wants to have a career. She hates men who are more focused on her looks than her brain. She is not yet interested in a serious relationship. Although she dates Kit Moran for several months, she breaks up with him shortly after Don's death for the reasons listed in the letter cited above.

Her strong views mean that she thinks she knows what is best for Georgina, too. When she learns that Georgina is writing to Kit, she disapproves. She firmly believes Georgina should not get involved with any one again so soon after losing Don. She thinks Georigina should "stand on her own two feet" and learn to be independent. She fails to understand the depth of Georgina's feelings much less Georgina's great emotional strength. 

She also underestimates her own needs for affection. 

Excerpt 2:

They reached the bar and Adrian asked what she wasdrinking. Fiona asked for cider, and Adrian ordered for her. When it came, hepassed it to her, saying, “We were talking about what you wanted in arelationship.”

“Oh, that’s not important. I just wanted to get yourattention.”

He smiled softly. “Well, you have it. Tell me more.”

“It’s just —” suddenly she didn’t feel as sure ofherself as when she was lecturing other girls. In fact, she felt a littleconfused, but she tried to explain. “It’s just that it seems to me that people— all people, men and women — have different talents and gifts. I mean, yourfather is apparently a brilliant barrister, but you are an architect. Anotherman is skilled as a writer or a mechanic or at mathematics. We seem to acceptthat each has a role to play regardless of their chosen field, but women —we’re all supposed to good obedient wives and loving mothers. We aren’t allowedto be anything else.”

“It certainly has been that way in the past,” Adrianconceded, nodding thoughtfully. “But I think that’s changing. I know that I’drather have a wife who can talk about something other than nappies or fashion.”He tried to make it a joke but didn’t quite pull it off.

Still, Fiona appreciated his attempt at understanding.“It’s a little more than that, really,” she tried to explain. “What I’d like isto follow my own dreams. I’d like a career and income of my own. I suppose whatI’m saying, when you get down to it, is: I want to find a partner whounderstands me and loves me the way I am, with all my warts and pimples,ambitions and bad habits.”

Adrian nodded seriously. “I think that is what we allwant, but finding someone like that isn’t easy — for men or women. Frankly, Idon’t think any woman could accept me with all my faults.”

What faults could this exquisitely handsome, gentleand well-mannered man possibly be hiding? Fiona wondered. She could not believehis flaws were anything truly terrible. He probably set too-high standards forhimself, and what he considered “weaknesses” were simply things that made himmore human and interesting.

Fiona found the humble and melancholy young man athousand times more attractive than the self-confident and brash young men shehad met at other dances. She felt a powerful desire to get to know Adrianbetter. His gaze had drifted into the distance again, so she called hisattention back to her, “Adrian.” When he looked down at her questioningly, sherisked being very bold. “You’ll never know if you can be loved faults and allunless you give me a chance to get to know you better.”

 MORAL FIBRE IS THE WINNER OF THE HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR 20TH CENTURY WARTIME FICTION

IT WAS ALSO A FINALIST FOR THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD 2023

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

"Moral Fibre" - Fiona Barker

  The female protagonist of "Moral Fibre," Georgina, faces feisty opposition to her plans and dreams from her best friend, Fiona. A woman ahead of her time, Fiona doesn't think women should be financially or emotionally dependent on men.She wants her own career and she's determined to stand on her own to feet. Yet she's an attractive young lady too, and our hearts aren't always obedient to our minds.

Excerpt 1:

“Dear Kit,” the letteropened.

“These last two weeks have been the most terribleof my life. I have watched Georgina sink in a flood of her own tears, hardlyable to breathe for grief. She is wasting away for lack of food and sleep, andnothing will console her. Watching her, holding her, trying to comfort her hasmade me realise how terrible this thing called ‘love’ really is. My beautifulfriend is being destroyed by it. I know that she will never be the same. Oh, Iknow, time heals all wounds, but Georgina will bear the scar of what Don hasdone to her for the rest of her life.

“I hope that thetime will come, when she realizes that the only one to blame for her misery isthe man who so callously shattered her happiness with his selfish ego! Don andhis pretensions of being better than everyone else! His anachronistic, aristocraticnotions of ‘duty’ and ‘honour’ have killed a beautiful, fragile, and utterly selflessbutterfly” Fiona’s anger was evidentin the deep grooves her ball-point pen had impressed upon the heavy stationary.

“Watching Georgina suffer, made me see more clearlythan before why I would not and could not ever commit myself to you. I am determinednot to let you break my heart and scar me for life. The best way to ensure thatdoesn’t happen, is never to see each other again.

“It makes no difference to me that you don’t shareDon’s class delusions of superiority. Nor does it matter that you have refusedto fly any more operations. Georgina tells me such a refusal is very seriousand could result in some sort of disciplinary action. I hope that whatever theydo to you isn’t too terrible, because I think you are only being sensible notto want to fly any further operations.

“However, I told you before you started this secondtour that I thought it was foolish and unnecessary. You wouldn’t listen to me. Ithurt me terribly that you insisted on doing this thing that I knew was wrongfor you. And though I did not see it at once, I now know that our relationshipwas doomed the moment you would not listen to me. In that moment, you put yourself-image as some sort of storybook hero ahead of a meaningful relationshipwith me.  It doesn’t change anything thatyou have now learnt the hard way that I was right.

“So, this is good-bye, Kit. I honestly wish you allthe best. At least now you won’t die for some silly dream of being a hero, andmaybe next time you’ll listen, when a woman tells you something for your owngood.

“Sincerely, Fiona.”

Fiona like Georgina is training to be a teacher, and she's extremely good at it. She's not just top of her class in the theoretical subjects, when she starts her apprentice teaching she soon shines. She has not only energy and ideas, she's also practical and thick-skinned enough not to worry about being liked. The result is almost instant success and a job offer.

But Fiona is also a rebel. She resents the restrictions placed on women. She wants to have a career. She hates men who are more focused on her looks than her brain. She is not yet interested in a serious relationship. Although she dates Kit Moran for several months, she breaks up with him shortly after Don's death for the reasons listed in the letter cited above.

Her strong views mean that she thinks she knows what is best for Georgina, too. When she learns that Georgina is writing to Kit, she disapproves. She firmly believes Georgina should not get involved with any one again so soon after losing Don. She thinks Georigina should "stand on her own two feet" and learn to be independent. She fails to understand the depth of Georgina's feelings much less Georgina's great emotional strength. 

She also underestimates her own needs for affection. 

Excerpt 2:

They reached the bar and Adrian asked what she wasdrinking. Fiona asked for cider, and Adrian ordered for her. When it came, hepassed it to her, saying, “We were talking about what you wanted in arelationship.”

“Oh, that’s not important. I just wanted to get yourattention.”

He smiled softly. “Well, you have it. Tell me more.”

“It’s just —” suddenly she didn’t feel as sure ofherself as when she was lecturing other girls. In fact, she felt a littleconfused, but she tried to explain. “It’s just that it seems to me that people— all people, men and women — have different talents and gifts. I mean, yourfather is apparently a brilliant barrister, but you are an architect. Anotherman is skilled as a writer or a mechanic or at mathematics. We seem to acceptthat each has a role to play regardless of their chosen field, but women —we’re all supposed to good obedient wives and loving mothers. We aren’t allowedto be anything else.”

“It certainly has been that way in the past,” Adrianconceded, nodding thoughtfully. “But I think that’s changing. I know that I’drather have a wife who can talk about something other than nappies or fashion.”He tried to make it a joke but didn’t quite pull it off.

Still, Fiona appreciated his attempt at understanding.“It’s a little more than that, really,” she tried to explain. “What I’d like isto follow my own dreams. I’d like a career and income of my own. I suppose whatI’m saying, when you get down to it, is: I want to find a partner whounderstands me and loves me the way I am, with all my warts and pimples,ambitions and bad habits.”

Adrian nodded seriously. “I think that is what we allwant, but finding someone like that isn’t easy — for men or women. Frankly, Idon’t think any woman could accept me with all my faults.”

What faults could this exquisitely handsome, gentleand well-mannered man possibly be hiding? Fiona wondered. She could not believehis flaws were anything truly terrible. He probably set too-high standards forhimself, and what he considered “weaknesses” were simply things that made himmore human and interesting.

Fiona found the humble and melancholy young man athousand times more attractive than the self-confident and brash young men shehad met at other dances. She felt a powerful desire to get to know Adrianbetter. His gaze had drifted into the distance again, so she called hisattention back to her, “Adrian.” When he looked down at her questioningly, sherisked being very bold. “You’ll never know if you can be loved faults and allunless you give me a chance to get to know you better.”

 

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

The Characters of "Moral Fibre" - Reverend Edwin Reddings

One of the most important secondary characters in "Moral Fibre" is Rev Edwin Reddings, the father of the female protagonist.  Given the fact that both Kit and Georgina are still very young during the events described, Georgina’sfather is frequently the only “adult in the room.” As an Anglican priest and a veteran of the last war, Reddings provides a mature and (usually) wise point-of-view and his observations give the reader some of the most important insights.

Excerpt 1:

“Daddy?”

“Hm?”

“You get these visions sometimes…”

Edwin spun about sharply. How had she known? He lookedat Amanda with an unspoken question. She just shook her head bemused.

Georgina was continuing, “But they’ve always involvedstrangers, haven’t they? Or, well, people you only know distantly. You’ve neverhad them about someone close, have you?”

“What do you mean?” He handed her a mug of steamingalcohol.

“Well, Gerald, for example. Or Don?”

“Gerald is fine,” her father answered firmly, causingeven Amanda to raise her eyebrows.

“And Don? I mean since he passed away is there any waythat you —”

“Georgina, your father’s tired. You shouldn’t—”

“It’s all right, Amanda,” Edwin told his wife beforelooking intently at his daughter. “I’m not a medium, Georgina. I can’t contactthe dead, and they do not speak to me. It’s true that I sometimes have thesevisions — fortunately not too often. And sometimes I sense things that aren’tentirely tangible. That’s all. I have never had contact with those who havealready gone on before us.”

Georgina nodded solemnly. “I understand, Daddy. It’sjust…”

“What’s bothering you, child?” He encouraged her.

“Well, Kit and I visited Don’s grave on theanniversary of the crash—”

“You’ve seen Kit again?” Edwin was so pleased hecouldn’t help interrupting.

“I — I rang him. He was planning to visit the grave onthe anniversary anyway, and he offered to drive me there.”

“So that’s why you didn’t ask me to take you. I’d keptthe day free and even had the car serviced. When you didn’t ring, I assumedMiss Townsend hadn’t given you the day off.”

“Thank you for thinking of me, Daddy,” she reached outand squeezed his hand once, but then continued with her thoughts. “When I wasthere, I had this powerful feeling that Don wanted me to move on. Do you thinkthat’s possible? I mean, is it possible that it was something real, not just memaking excuses for what I want to do?”

“Georgina, if there’s one thing I believe, it is thatDon wanted you to be happy. You can’t be happy by dwelling on the death of awonderful young man. You can’t be happy by denying yourself a future. Seeinghow you grieved must have hurt Don terribly.”

Georgina caught her breath. She had never thought ofDon seeing her grieve. What a frightening thought! After being soselfless and brave himself, Don must have been disgusted with her lack offortitude and courage. “Do you think…”

“Go on,” her father urged her.

Georgina took a deep breath. “Do you think he’d beupset to know that Kit and I have fallen in love with one another?”

“That’s splendid news, my dear!” Edwin proclaimedbreaking into a broad smile. “I’m very fond of that young man and so is yourmother.” He glanced towards his wife, realising that this was the secret she andGeorgina had already shared before his arrival.

“But what would Don think?” Georgina asked her fatherseriously, evidently still unsure.

“My dear, I can’t imagine anyone Don would approve of more.Together you will never forget him, and that is the most the dead have a rightto ask of the living.”

The Reverend Edwin Reddings was a Yorkshireman from a solid, respectable but not terribly wealthy family. His father was a solicitor, and he enrolled in university expecting to study and eventually practice law. Although not swept up in the initial enthusiasm at the start of WWI, patriotism and a sense of duty were deeply inbred, and so in 1915, he volunteered in the Duke of Wellington's Own West Riding Regiment. He served on the Western Front, was wounded twice, and against the odds survived the war. His plans were to resume his studies as soon as he was demobilized.

Instead, while driving drunk on a country road late at night, he has an encounter with the supernatural. The vivid, life-saving experience causes him to abandon his career plans and study theology instead. At the end of the arduous training, he is ordained and finds a living in a rural Yorkshire parish. Meanwhile he has married a practical and supportive young woman, Amanda, and they have two children together, Gerald and Georgina.

Only after Edwin has settled in his new role, does Edwin experience another supernatural vision. He sees the child of a parishioner drowning in a lake in his mind. By the time he reaches the child's home, his body has already been brought home from the lake where he drowned. Edwin continues to have visions sporadically and unpredictably. He cannot summon these messages, and they appear to be simultaneous with the events he sees, precluding the possibility of preventing the events. As a result, Edwin hates them. They are an extreme emotional burden, whose use he cannot fathom, but he accepts them as a divine gift nevertheless.

Reddings grows into his role as vicar and pastor. His parishioners increasingly turn to him for advice and comfort. Yet while his parish is removed from the conflicts and crises gradually consuming Europe, he is not ignorant of them. Reddings actively follows world events and reads voraciously -- about Ghandi and his arguments and methods for Indian independence, about Bolshevism, collectivization, and the kangaroo trials that devour the leaders of the Russian Revolution, and about Hitler and how German revanchism has awoken a sleeping monster. He is deeply disturbed by the colliding political currents and disgusted with domestic politics and inaction. When the war finally comes he is not surprised and he supports the new Prime Minister's determined opposition to Hitler. 

His son Gerald enlists and in due time obtains a commission in the Royal Navy as an engineering officer. Georgina leaves her horsey childhood behind and earnestly pursues training as a teacher. Although she falls in love young, Edwin understands the pressures of wartime and does not try to dissuade her from an engagement. Furthermore, he likes her young man very much and is devastated when he is killed before the year is out. The depth of his daughter's grief distresses him, and he worries she will be scarred for life, even warped by bitterness. His relief is great when she finds the courage to love again, this time to a young man he likes even more than her first fiance. 

Meanwhile, the Allies are winning the war, and Edwin knows that victory is not the end of history. There will be serious challenges -- indeed more complex challenges -- to face after the guns stop.

Excerpt 2:

“ReverendReddings? It’s Kit Moran, here. You asked me to ring you?”

“Kit!Thank you for getting back to me. I just wanted to check…that you’re allright.”

“Yes,I’m fine,” Kit sounded slightly amused. “I’m about to have a cream tea at themess after spending a pleasant morning shooting hares with some of the otherchaps. Howard and Sayers asked me to go shooting with them.” Edwin could tellthat Kit was pleased about that. “We bagged two. I hope to see Georgina aftershe gets home from school this evening. Is there some reason you wanted me to ringyou?”

“I— um — I was wondering. Did you fly last night?” Edwin wanted to be sure hehadn’t misunderstood.

“No,they’re still refitting the mid-upper turrets and replacing the armour platingafter our last op.”

“Butthere was a raid, wasn’t there?”

Therewas a pause and then Kit admitted. “Yes, rather a large one. It will probablybe on the BBC soon enough, I suppose.” Edwin could hear Kit’s reluctance totalk about operations.

“Doyou know anything about it?” Edwin prompted. “Anything you can share?” He knewthat although information about an impending raid was shrouded in the strictestsecrecy, once an operation was complete details were usually released to thepress and broadcast on the BBC.

Kithesitated for a second, but then answered. “Apparently at the request of theSoviets, we and the Americans sent over three waves of bombers. Close to eighthundred RAF aircraft took part and I believe the Americans put up another fivehundred. So thirteen hundred bombers altogether. I don’t know anything aboutfighter escorts.”

“But617 squadron didn’t fly on it?”

“No,none of us—”

“I’mso relieved.”

“Why,sir?”

“Somethingterrible happened. I saw it in a dream, and it terrified me like nothing I’veever seen before. It was all so pointless and — how do I explain this? — soimpossibly arrogant. Destruction just for the sake of destruction. Sheerhubris. Do you know where?”

Again,Moran hesitated, clearly uncomfortable, but the BBC would name the target soonenough. “A place I’ve never heard of before,” he admitted. “Dresden.”

“Dresden,”Edwin echoed the name in a whisper, more shattered than ever. Reddings didknow Dresden. He had been there as a student between the wars. It was abeautiful baroque town strung along the banks of the gentle Elbe. A minuet instone, he had thought at the time of his visit.

“Pilotsof 627, which did take part, report there was quite a fire storm,” Moranadmitted.

“Whatwe did was wrong, Kit.” Edwin had no doubt in his mind, and he spoke with theconviction of his profession. “There was no legitimate military target there —not like Hamburg. And it was full of helpless refugees with nowhere to go.”

“I’lltake your word for it,” Kit answered respectfully. “Maybe we can discuss itwhen we next meet.”

“Yes,we must talk about it. I want to hear what you think. For now, I’m just gladyou weren’t part of it. Take care. You are in my prayers daily.”

“Thankyou. Give my regards to Amanda.”

“Gladly.”

Theyhung up, but Edwin remained standing in the hallway, unable to face hissisters. Throughout the last five years of war, he had sustained himself withthe justice of their cause. He had made excuses again and again for actions hefound questionable. He had even conceded the need for ‘saturation bombing’ onthe strength of the simple technical impossibility of precision strikes. Yetnow, on the very cusp of victory, the Allies were starting to behave like theirenemies — smashing things and killing people simply to demonstrate theirability to do so. They were destroying their shared European cultural heritagewhich they should have been striving to rebuild together.

Andas if that weren’t bad enough, sitting only a few feet away was anEnglishwoman, his own flesh and blood, who, despite everything this appallingwar should have taught, was just as bigoted as any Nazi. His own sister wasready to insult, isolate, and discriminate against people purely on the basisof their race. He was acutely aware that in less than a decade the Germans hadgone from the Nuremburg Laws, that inhibited Jewish participation in theeconomy, to full-scale genocide. While the reports of Auschwitz underlined theneed to eradicate Hitler and his ideology of hatred and racism, Edwin knew thatJews had been more integrated into German than English society. The fact thatthe persecution of Jews could happen in Germany was, therefore,particularly shocking — and telling. Far from being a specifically Germanproblem, Auschwitz illustrated the fact that all societies and nations couldcommit acts of gross inhumanity when manipulated by evil leaders. Which, Edwinconcluded, meant that the most dangerous ‘Nazis’ were those at home.

 

 MORAL FIBRE IS THE WINNER OF THE HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR 20TH CENTURY WARTIME FICTION

IT WAS ALSO A FINALIST FOR THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD 2023

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

"Moral Fibre" - Reverend Edwin Reddings

One of the most important secondary characters in "Moral Fibre" is Rev Edwin Reddings, the father of the female protagonist.  Given the fact that both Kit and Georgina are still very young during the events described, Georgina’sfather is frequently the only “adult in the room.” As an Anglican priest and a veteran of the last war, Reddings provides a mature and (usually) wise point-of-view and his observations give the reader some of the most important insights.

Excerpt 1:

“Daddy?”

“Hm?”

“You get these visions sometimes…”

Edwin spun about sharply. How had she known? He lookedat Amanda with an unspoken question. She just shook her head bemused.

Georgina was continuing, “But they’ve always involvedstrangers, haven’t they? Or, well, people you only know distantly. You’ve neverhad them about someone close, have you?”

“What do you mean?” He handed her a mug of steamingalcohol.

“Well, Gerald, for example. Or Don?”

“Gerald is fine,” her father answered firmly, causingeven Amanda to raise her eyebrows.

“And Don? I mean since he passed away is there any waythat you —”

“Georgina, your father’s tired. You shouldn’t—”

“It’s all right, Amanda,” Edwin told his wife beforelooking intently at his daughter. “I’m not a medium, Georgina. I can’t contactthe dead, and they do not speak to me. It’s true that I sometimes have thesevisions — fortunately not too often. And sometimes I sense things that aren’tentirely tangible. That’s all. I have never had contact with those who havealready gone on before us.”

Georgina nodded solemnly. “I understand, Daddy. It’sjust…”

“What’s bothering you, child?” He encouraged her.

“Well, Kit and I visited Don’s grave on theanniversary of the crash—”

“You’ve seen Kit again?” Edwin was so pleased hecouldn’t help interrupting.

“I — I rang him. He was planning to visit the grave onthe anniversary anyway, and he offered to drive me there.”

“So that’s why you didn’t ask me to take you. I’d keptthe day free and even had the car serviced. When you didn’t ring, I assumedMiss Townsend hadn’t given you the day off.”

“Thank you for thinking of me, Daddy,” she reached outand squeezed his hand once, but then continued with her thoughts. “When I wasthere, I had this powerful feeling that Don wanted me to move on. Do you thinkthat’s possible? I mean, is it possible that it was something real, not just memaking excuses for what I want to do?”

“Georgina, if there’s one thing I believe, it is thatDon wanted you to be happy. You can’t be happy by dwelling on the death of awonderful young man. You can’t be happy by denying yourself a future. Seeinghow you grieved must have hurt Don terribly.”

Georgina caught her breath. She had never thought ofDon seeing her grieve. What a frightening thought! After being soselfless and brave himself, Don must have been disgusted with her lack offortitude and courage. “Do you think…”

“Go on,” her father urged her.

Georgina took a deep breath. “Do you think he’d beupset to know that Kit and I have fallen in love with one another?”

“That’s splendid news, my dear!” Edwin proclaimedbreaking into a broad smile. “I’m very fond of that young man and so is yourmother.” He glanced towards his wife, realising that this was the secret she andGeorgina had already shared before his arrival.

“But what would Don think?” Georgina asked her fatherseriously, evidently still unsure.

“My dear, I can’t imagine anyone Don would approve of more.Together you will never forget him, and that is the most the dead have a rightto ask of the living.”

The Reverend Edwin Reddings was a Yorkshireman from a solid, respectable but not terribly wealthy family. His father was a solicitor, and he enrolled in university expecting to study and eventually practice law. Although not swept up in the initial enthusiasm at the start of WWI, patriotism and a sense of duty were deeply inbred, and so in 1915, he volunteered in the Duke of Wellington's Own West Riding Regiment. He served on the Western Front, was wounded twice, and against the odds survived the war. His plans were to resume his studies as soon as he was demobilized.

Instead, while driving drunk on a country road late at night, he has an encounter with the supernatural. The vivid, life-saving experience causes him to abandon his career plans and study theology instead. At the end of the arduous training, he is ordained and finds a living in a rural Yorkshire parish. Meanwhile he has married a practical and supportive young woman, Amanda, and they have two children together, Gerald and Georgina.

Only after Edwin has settled in his new role, does Edwin experience another supernatural vision. He sees the child of a parishioner drowning in a lake in his mind. By the time he reaches the child's home, his body has already been brought home from the lake where he drowned. Edwin continues to have visions sporadically and unpredictably. He cannot summon these messages, and they appear to be simultaneous with the events he sees, precluding the possibility of preventing the events. As a result, Edwin hates them. They are an extreme emotional burden, whose use he cannot fathom, but he accepts them as a divine gift nevertheless.

Reddings grows into his role as vicar and pastor. His parishioners increasingly turn to him for advice and comfort. Yet while his parish is removed from the conflicts and crises gradually consuming Europe, he is not ignorant of them. Reddings actively follows world events and reads voraciously -- about Ghandi and his arguments and methods for Indian independence, about Bolshevism, collectivization, and the kangaroo trials that devour the leaders of the Russian Revolution, and about Hitler and how German revanchism has awoken a sleeping monster. He is deeply disturbed by the colliding political currents and disgusted with domestic politics and inaction. When the war finally comes he is not surprised and he supports the new Prime Minister's determined opposition to Hitler. 

His son Gerald enlists and in due time obtains a commission in the Royal Navy as an engineering officer. Georgina leaves her horsey childhood behind and earnestly pursues training as a teacher. Although she falls in love young, Edwin understands the pressures of wartime and does not try to dissuade her from an engagement. Furthermore, he likes her young man very much and is devastated when he is killed before the year is out. The depth of his daughter's grief distresses him, and he worries she will be scarred for life, even warped by bitterness. His relief is great when she finds the courage to love again, this time to a young man he likes even more than her first fiance. 

Meanwhile, the Allies are winning the war, and Edwin knows that victory is not the end of history. There will be serious challenges -- indeed more complex challenges -- to face after the guns stop.

Excerpt 2:

“ReverendReddings? It’s Kit Moran, here. You asked me to ring you?”

“Kit!Thank you for getting back to me. I just wanted to check…that you’re allright.”

“Yes,I’m fine,” Kit sounded slightly amused. “I’m about to have a cream tea at themess after spending a pleasant morning shooting hares with some of the otherchaps. Howard and Sayers asked me to go shooting with them.” Edwin could tellthat Kit was pleased about that. “We bagged two. I hope to see Georgina aftershe gets home from school this evening. Is there some reason you wanted me to ringyou?”

“I— um — I was wondering. Did you fly last night?” Edwin wanted to be sure hehadn’t misunderstood.

“No,they’re still refitting the mid-upper turrets and replacing the armour platingafter our last op.”

“Butthere was a raid, wasn’t there?”

Therewas a pause and then Kit admitted. “Yes, rather a large one. It will probablybe on the BBC soon enough, I suppose.” Edwin could hear Kit’s reluctance totalk about operations.

“Doyou know anything about it?” Edwin prompted. “Anything you can share?” He knewthat although information about an impending raid was shrouded in the strictestsecrecy, once an operation was complete details were usually released to thepress and broadcast on the BBC.

Kithesitated for a second, but then answered. “Apparently at the request of theSoviets, we and the Americans sent over three waves of bombers. Close to eighthundred RAF aircraft took part and I believe the Americans put up another fivehundred. So thirteen hundred bombers altogether. I don’t know anything aboutfighter escorts.”

“But617 squadron didn’t fly on it?”

“No,none of us—”

“I’mso relieved.”

“Why,sir?”

“Somethingterrible happened. I saw it in a dream, and it terrified me like nothing I’veever seen before. It was all so pointless and — how do I explain this? — soimpossibly arrogant. Destruction just for the sake of destruction. Sheerhubris. Do you know where?”

Again,Moran hesitated, clearly uncomfortable, but the BBC would name the target soonenough. “A place I’ve never heard of before,” he admitted. “Dresden.”

“Dresden,”Edwin echoed the name in a whisper, more shattered than ever. Reddings didknow Dresden. He had been there as a student between the wars. It was abeautiful baroque town strung along the banks of the gentle Elbe. A minuet instone, he had thought at the time of his visit.

“Pilotsof 627, which did take part, report there was quite a fire storm,” Moranadmitted.

“Whatwe did was wrong, Kit.” Edwin had no doubt in his mind, and he spoke with theconviction of his profession. “There was no legitimate military target there —not like Hamburg. And it was full of helpless refugees with nowhere to go.”

“I’lltake your word for it,” Kit answered respectfully. “Maybe we can discuss itwhen we next meet.”

“Yes,we must talk about it. I want to hear what you think. For now, I’m just gladyou weren’t part of it. Take care. You are in my prayers daily.”

“Thankyou. Give my regards to Amanda.”

“Gladly.”

Theyhung up, but Edwin remained standing in the hallway, unable to face hissisters. Throughout the last five years of war, he had sustained himself withthe justice of their cause. He had made excuses again and again for actions hefound questionable. He had even conceded the need for ‘saturation bombing’ onthe strength of the simple technical impossibility of precision strikes. Yetnow, on the very cusp of victory, the Allies were starting to behave like theirenemies — smashing things and killing people simply to demonstrate theirability to do so. They were destroying their shared European cultural heritagewhich they should have been striving to rebuild together.

Andas if that weren’t bad enough, sitting only a few feet away was anEnglishwoman, his own flesh and blood, who, despite everything this appallingwar should have taught, was just as bigoted as any Nazi. His own sister wasready to insult, isolate, and discriminate against people purely on the basisof their race. He was acutely aware that in less than a decade the Germans hadgone from the Nuremburg Laws, that inhibited Jewish participation in theeconomy, to full-scale genocide. While the reports of Auschwitz underlined theneed to eradicate Hitler and his ideology of hatred and racism, Edwin knew thatJews had been more integrated into German than English society. The fact thatthe persecution of Jews could happen in Germany was, therefore,particularly shocking — and telling. Far from being a specifically Germanproblem, Auschwitz illustrated the fact that all societies and nations couldcommit acts of gross inhumanity when manipulated by evil leaders. Which, Edwinconcluded, meant that the most dangerous ‘Nazis’ were those at home.

 

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

The Characters of "Moral Fibre" - Georgina Reddings

 The female protagonist of Moral Fibre is Georgina Reddings. Unlike the hero, Kit, she was shy about communicating with me directly. I knew her first and foremost through Kit's eyes and only gradually pieced together more about her. Slowly, step-by-step, she emerged out of the shadows as her natural modesty and reticence melted and she took shape as a full-blown character in her own right.

Excerpt 1:

By the time Kit turned to handGeorgina a small box, her stomach was tied in knots. Fiona had been right! Herinvitation had misled him. Yet, surely, he wouldn’t give her a ring in frontof her parents? Would he?

He seemed to read her thoughts andreassured her, “There’s nothing to be afraid of, Georgina. Just something Ithought you’d like.” The words were casual, but his smile was a little twistedand his eyes were sad. Her obvious apprehension at his gift had already sentthe necessary message.

Still terrified of what might beinside, Georgina undid the ribbon and opened the box. Inside she found a pairof thumbnail-sized ebony earrings. They were delicately carved elephants withtiny ivory tusks. How ambiguous, she thought. Not a ring or a pin, theacceptance of which signalled a girl’s commitment to a young man, but hardlyconsumables either. They were something she was expected to wear and rememberhim by. Was there anything wrong with that? She couldn’t make up her mind.Conscious of her parents’ as well as Kit’s gazes, she removed one from the boxto look more closely. “They’re sweet! So delicate!” she exclaimed. Did hervoice sound as forced and silly to the others as it did to her?

“You wrote in one of your lettersthat you hoped I hadn’t shot any elephants on my safari because you thoughtthey were wonderful animals.”

“That’s true!” She agreed morenaturally. “I’ve always loved the elephants at the zoo because they look sointelligent.” As she spoke, she held an earring up to her earlobe so herparents could see. They both made appreciative noises, but she could sense thatthey were watching her and Kit like hawks. They clearly liked Kit, but shesuspected they shared her reservations about her giving her heart again toosoon.

“They really are lovely,” Georginainsisted, putting the earring back in the box. “Thank you so very much.”

“Speaking of safaris and Africa, Iwas wondering if you had any photos of your family that you could show us?” herfather said, smoothly ending the awkward scene.

“Oh, yes,” Her mother joined in, an enthusiasticaccomplice. “I would so love to see pictures ofyour home in Africa. I must admit, I can’t imagine it at all.”

Georgina was the daughter of a rural vicar in West Yorkshire. She enjoyed a carefree and comfortable childhood, attending a girls boarding school run by the Church of England. The Victorian vicarage with its large barn made it easy for her to indulge her passion for horses, riding and hunting, and she was a bit "horse crazy" as a young teenager, but the war soon sobered her.  In 1942 she started studies at the Lincoln Diocesan Teachers Training College, with the goal of becoming a secondary school teacher. At at dance at the Lincoln Assembly Rooms, she met and instantly fell in love with the shy, serious and gentle Don Selkirk, a Lancaster skipper from a nearby RAF station. 

Scion of a wealthy, Scottish gentry family, Don bedazzled Georgina, without even trying. They became engaged within four months of meeting, to the delight of both sets of parents. Don's parents found Georgina sweet and innocent, modest and malleable. Her parents saw in Don the perfect gentleman with a law degree and good prospects after the war. Meanwhile, he was  protective and considerate in every way. He cocooned Georgina in a sense of safety. He encouraged her to continue her studies, yet indulged her hopes, visions and plans for a future together. He assured her he had always been lucky and that nothing would happen to him. 

And then he was dead. A 20 mm cannon of a German night fighter having hit his heart and killed him instantly. Georgina's entire world fell apart. She hadn't just lost the only man she'd ever loved, she'd lost her dreams and hopes for the future as well. All at the age of 19.

Georgina's grief was as great as her heart and her capacity for love. It shocked the under-cooled society around her, which expected a "stiff upper lip," "restraint," "self-control." After all, Don was only one of 55,000 airmen who were to die, and civilians were being killed every day too. There was no room in wartime Britain for too much grief. Instead, the emphasis was on all those established British virtues that had won an Empire and seemed more vital than ever in this, their "finest hour."  Her friends and colleagues at the college were alienated. Her parents feared for he sanity. Her doctor thought she needed psychiatric treatment. 

The only one in the whole world with whom Georgina could share her grief without reproach or inhibition was with Don's best best, his flight engineer Kit Moran. But Moran was in trouble. He had refused to fly after Don's death. He was posted off his squadron and sent to a RAF diagnosis center. His future was under a cloud, and he told Georgina that he believed it would have been better for everyone if he had died in Don's place. 

Georgina denied it, and with that recognition that Kit too was a valuable life that might also have been lost, she started groping and stumbling along a path out of her underworld of grief. She clung to Kit as a lifeline connecting her both to Don through his memories and to life. Although Kit was soon sent for flight training in South Africa, they corresponded. Georgina wrote two to three times each week, pouring out her feelings and by writing down her thoughts as she came to terms with her loss bit by bit. 

Then, in August 1942, Kit returned to the UK to start operational training. Since his family was in Nigeria, naturally Georgina invited him to spend his disembarkation leave at her home with her parents. And there they met again. Suddenly, their relationship wasn't all about Don and the past. Kit was in love with her. But Georgina was terrified of committing her heart again when Kit was facing a tour of operations in a war that was as intense as ever. 

Excerpt 2:

Long after Philippa had fallen into an exhaustedsleep, Georgina lay awake in bed gripped by growing panic. Suddenly,chillingly, it was so all so clear: she was in danger of making the samemistake. She had been keeping Kit at arm’s length to protect herself from pain.She’d told herself she didn’t love him because she didn’t love him the same wayshe’d loved Don.

With razor-sharp clarity she saw that didn’t matter.She didn’t love her mother the way she loved her father, or her father the wayshe loved her brother, or love any of them the way she’d loved Don, but thathardly meant she didn’t love them. Each love was as unique as the object oflove. She would never love anyone exactly as she’d loved Don, but to deny herlove for Kit was absurd. She did love him, intently and powerfully — and he hada right to know.

“Oh, God,” she prayed. “Don’t take him away from mebefore I have a chance to tell him I love him!” She knew all too well thattraining accidents could be fatal. Why, just last week Philippa had told her —without betraying any details, of course — that several training aircraft hadbeen lost on a single night due to an abrupt change in the weather. For all sheknew Kit was among them, already dead. Oh, God, please not that!

The panic was increasing not easing. Georgina almostgot out of bed to write a letter to Kit immediately but turning on a lightwould disturb Philippa. Besides, a letter would take days to reach him, days inwhich he might die. She couldn’t risk it. She must ring him first thing in themorning. But she didn’t have a telephone number. No matter, Philippa would beable to find it and pass it on to her — assuming Philippa was fit to worktomorrow. Georgina looked over at her snoring roommate and pleaded mentally:Please go on duty tomorrow! Please!

 MORAL FIBRE IS THE WINNER OF THE HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR 20TH CENTURY WARTIME FICTION

IT WAS ALSO A FINALIST FOR THE BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD 2023

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles

 

 

 

 

 

"Moral Fibre" - Georgina Reddings

 The female protagonist of Moral Fibre is Georgina Reddings. Unlike the hero, Kit, she was shy about communicating with me directly. I knew her first and foremost through Kit's eyes and only gradually pieced together more about her. Slowly, step-by-step, she emerged out of the shadows as her natural modesty and reticence melted and she took shape as a full-blown character in her own right.

Excerpt 1:

By the time Kit turned to handGeorgina a small box, her stomach was tied in knots. Fiona had been right! Herinvitation had misled him. Yet, surely, he wouldn’t give her a ring in frontof her parents? Would he?

He seemed to read her thoughts andreassured her, “There’s nothing to be afraid of, Georgina. Just something Ithought you’d like.” The words were casual, but his smile was a little twistedand his eyes were sad. Her obvious apprehension at his gift had already sentthe necessary message.

Still terrified of what might beinside, Georgina undid the ribbon and opened the box. Inside she found a pairof thumbnail-sized ebony earrings. They were delicately carved elephants withtiny ivory tusks. How ambiguous, she thought. Not a ring or a pin, theacceptance of which signalled a girl’s commitment to a young man, but hardlyconsumables either. They were something she was expected to wear and rememberhim by. Was there anything wrong with that? She couldn’t make up her mind.Conscious of her parents’ as well as Kit’s gazes, she removed one from the boxto look more closely. “They’re sweet! So delicate!” she exclaimed. Did hervoice sound as forced and silly to the others as it did to her?

“You wrote in one of your lettersthat you hoped I hadn’t shot any elephants on my safari because you thoughtthey were wonderful animals.”

“That’s true!” She agreed morenaturally. “I’ve always loved the elephants at the zoo because they look sointelligent.” As she spoke, she held an earring up to her earlobe so herparents could see. They both made appreciative noises, but she could sense thatthey were watching her and Kit like hawks. They clearly liked Kit, but shesuspected they shared her reservations about her giving her heart again toosoon.

“They really are lovely,” Georginainsisted, putting the earring back in the box. “Thank you so very much.”

“Speaking of safaris and Africa, Iwas wondering if you had any photos of your family that you could show us?” herfather said, smoothly ending the awkward scene.

“Oh, yes,” Her mother joined in, an enthusiasticaccomplice. “I would so love to see pictures ofyour home in Africa. I must admit, I can’t imagine it at all.”

Georgina was the daughter of a rural vicar in West Yorkshire. She enjoyed a carefree and comfortable childhood, attending a girls boarding school run by the Church of England. The Victorian vicarage with its large barn made it easy for her to indulge her passion for horses, riding and hunting, and she was a bit "horse crazy" as a young teenager, but the war soon sobered her.  In 1942 she started studies at the Lincoln Diocesan Teachers Training College, with the goal of becoming a secondary school teacher. At at dance at the Lincoln Assembly Rooms, she met and instantly fell in love with the shy, serious and gentle Don Selkirk, a Lancaster skipper from a nearby RAF station. 

Scion of a wealthy, Scottish gentry family, Don bedazzled Georgina, without even trying. They became engaged within four months of meeting, to the delight of both sets of parents. Don's parents found Georgina sweet and innocent, modest and malleable. Her parents saw in Don the perfect gentleman with a law degree and good prospects after the war. Meanwhile, he was  protective and considerate in every way. He cocooned Georgina in a sense of safety. He encouraged her to continue her studies, yet indulged her hopes, visions and plans for a future together. He assured her he had always been lucky and that nothing would happen to him. 

And then he was dead. A 20 mm cannon of a German night fighter having hit his heart and killed him instantly. Georgina's entire world fell apart. She hadn't just lost the only man she'd ever loved, she'd lost her dreams and hopes for the future as well. All at the age of 19.

Georgina's grief was as great as her heart and her capacity for love. It shocked the under-cooled society around her, which expected a "stiff upper lip," "restraint," "self-control." After all, Don was only one of 55,000 airmen who were to die, and civilians were being killed every day too. There was no room in wartime Britain for too much grief. Instead, the emphasis was on all those established British virtues that had won an Empire and seemed more vital than ever in this, their "finest hour."  Her friends and colleagues at the college were alienated. Her parents feared for he sanity. Her doctor thought she needed psychiatric treatment. 

The only one in the whole world with whom Georgina could share her grief without reproach or inhibition was with Don's best best, his flight engineer Kit Moran. But Moran was in trouble. He had refused to fly after Don's death. He was posted off his squadron and sent to a RAF diagnosis center. His future was under a cloud, and he told Georgina that he believed it would have been better for everyone if he had died in Don's place. 

Georgina denied it, and with that recognition that Kit too was a valuable life that might also have been lost, she started groping and stumbling along a path out of her underworld of grief. She clung to Kit as a lifeline connecting her both to Don through his memories and to life. Although Kit was soon sent for flight training in South Africa, they corresponded. Georgina wrote two to three times each week, pouring out her feelings and by writing down her thoughts as she came to terms with her loss bit by bit. 

Then, in August 1942, Kit returned to the UK to start operational training. Since his family was in Nigeria, naturally Georgina invited him to spend his disembarkation leave at her home with her parents. And there they met again. Suddenly, their relationship wasn't all about Don and the past. Kit was in love with her. But Georgina was terrified of committing her heart again when Kit was facing a tour of operations in a war that was as intense as ever. 

Excerpt 2:

Long after Philippa had fallen into an exhaustedsleep, Georgina lay awake in bed gripped by growing panic. Suddenly,chillingly, it was so all so clear: she was in danger of making the samemistake. She had been keeping Kit at arm’s length to protect herself from pain.She’d told herself she didn’t love him because she didn’t love him the same wayshe’d loved Don.

With razor-sharp clarity she saw that didn’t matter.She didn’t love her mother the way she loved her father, or her father the wayshe loved her brother, or love any of them the way she’d loved Don, but thathardly meant she didn’t love them. Each love was as unique as the object oflove. She would never love anyone exactly as she’d loved Don, but to deny herlove for Kit was absurd. She did love him, intently and powerfully — and he hada right to know.

“Oh, God,” she prayed. “Don’t take him away from mebefore I have a chance to tell him I love him!” She knew all too well thattraining accidents could be fatal. Why, just last week Philippa had told her —without betraying any details, of course — that several training aircraft hadbeen lost on a single night due to an abrupt change in the weather. For all sheknew Kit was among them, already dead. Oh, God, please not that!

The panic was increasing not easing. Georgina almostgot out of bed to write a letter to Kit immediately but turning on a lightwould disturb Philippa. Besides, a letter would take days to reach him, days inwhich he might die. She couldn’t risk it. She must ring him first thing in themorning. But she didn’t have a telephone number. No matter, Philippa would beable to find it and pass it on to her — assuming Philippa was fit to worktomorrow. Georgina looked over at her snoring roommate and pleaded mentally:Please go on duty tomorrow! Please!

  

 Riding the icy, moonlit sky,

they took the war to Hitler. 

Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent. 

Their average age was 21.

This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved. 

It is intended as a tribute to them all.  

Buy now on amazon

or Barnes and Noble. 

 

 "This is the best book on the life of us fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain that I have ever seen.... I couldn't put it down."-- RAF Battle of Britain ace, Wing Commander Bob Doe.

Winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction, a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction and Silver in the Global Book Awards.

Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew

 

 For more information about all my books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com

 

Disfiguring injuries, class prejudice and PTSD are the focus of three tales set in WWII by award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/grounded-eagles