DRUM ROLL! – Publication Date Confirmed!

Well, at last, after over two years of archival research (assisted in record copying by my lovely wife) I now have a firm publication date from my publisher, Y Lolfa of Talybont.

“Swansea and the Second World War” will be launched on 28 September 2024 at the Local History and Heritage Day organised by the Swansea branch of the Historical Association. That event will be held at the Waterfront Museum in Swansea. I will also be giving a public talk on the subject in Swansea (in the central library) on Saturday 26 October at 2 p.m. Naturally, I will be selling signed copies of the book on both days.

For many people, Swansea’s experience of the Second World War can be encapsulated in the searing experience of the Three Nights’ Blitz of 19-21 February 1941. That tragic event left over 200 people dead and the centre of the town devastated. But the overall experience of the war for Swansea citizens extended far beyond that terrible event.

My book will tell – of course – the story of the Three Nights’ Blitz (and over 30 other air raids) but it will also recount what else happened within the town during the Second World War. It will cover ARP arrangements, the Home Guard, gun and balloon defences against attack from the air, anti-invasion plans and exercises, rationing, salvage, Kindertransport arrivals, child evacuees, crime, health, conscription (men and women), the arrival of the Americans in the D-Day build-up, civilian casualties, dealing with the dead, the victory in Europe and Victory over Japan celebrations and post-war squatters amongst other items.

I think it will be the first book since the end of the war to try and tell the story of Swansea’s war experience in the round. I hope it will be a fitting tribute to all those who lived (and sometimes sadly died) in the Swansea of 1939-1945.

Fingers Crossed for 2024…

Lots has happened since my last update on here. My manuscript of “Swansea and the Second World War” now runs to 80,000+ words covering many aspects of how the war affected the town and it’s people.

The market for local history books on Welsh topics isn’t huge and publishing margins are tight, especially in the light of recent inflation rates. With that in mind, my publisher has applied for a modest grant from the Books Council of Wales to help meet the cost of getting the work into print. We’ll get a decision in February 2024 and, if successful, I hope to see the work in print in September of 2024.

I think it will be a book that will help tell the story of Swansea and it’s people during 1939-45 in a way that has not previously been done. A web search for e.g. “WW2 Swansea” will return lots of info on the deadly blitz attacks but little else. My book will cover the civil defence services, Home Guard, anti-aircraft and balloon defences, anti-invasion plans and exercises, Kindertransport arrivals, refugees and evacuees, the conscription of women, the blitz attacks, bomb disposal, hospital services, the arrival of the Americans and more.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a successful grant outcome and a 2024 publication – my seventh book!

Watch this space for more info…

Keep an eye on this Blog for Swansea and the Second World War…

With Twitter in partial meltdown (2 July 2023) it may not be possible for me to post project updates on there as I have done in the past.

If you’re interested in my work on “Swansea and the Second World War” it might be worth you noting the address of this site since, if Twitter follows the Norwegian Blue path, info on progress and publication will appear here more frequently.

I hope to have a 70,000 word publication on how the Second World War affected Swansea and it’s people in print around March 2024 though, given the tough environment that publishers are working in, that is not a given.

I have already written rough chapters or segments on a host of wartime topics, as they affected the town. Almost all of the material I have been using has been gleaned from contemporary archival records, mainly from my local West Glamorgan Archive Service but also including files from the National Archives at Kew. Secondary source material has also been used.

The writing so far includes coverage of why Swansea was a target, the civil defence set up in the town, conscription of both men and women for the military or industry, air raid shelter provision, hospital services, conscientious objectors, Kindertransport arrivals, child evacuees, salvage campaigns, food and other rationing, the British Restaurants policy, policing and fire service arrangements, health conditions, anti invasion defences, anti aircraft guns and the balloon barrage, Home Guard, the Blitz attacks, bomb disposal, casualty analysis, post war squatters… And a bit more about to be written…

Watch this space for occasional updates…

An eventful 2021…

Despite the impact of the Covid pandemic on so many aspects of our lives, 2021 saw my biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant get into print and it has been well received, as shown in these links:

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Soldier%2C+spy%2C+monk…+messiah%3F+world.+War+II+hero+Henry…-a0680639886

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/solider-spy-monk-remarkable-life-21842374

The following BBC News website article received over 1,000,000 hits!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59010672

Henry did lead a remarkable life and the pinned post on this blog tells you how you can obtain a copy of the book.

Have a great 2022!

How You Can Buy a Copy of my Biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant of Neath…

My biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant is now IN PRINT!

It will be available from all the usual online booksellers, not least my publisher, Y Lolfa of Talybont.

It should be available at a number of local book shops, as well.

Beyond that, I can post signed copies to UK addresses for £12.00 a copy.

I can quote you a price for delivery to locations other than the UK though – post Brexit – there might be import taxes etc to be paid by a EU purchaser…

Use the “contact me” menu option please if you are interested in having a copy posted to you…[I’ll be contacting people who’ve helped with my research or have expressed an interest in the book directly…]

If you are able to “catch me” in person, I can sell you a signed copy for £11.00. I’ll be “in person” at the following events (other dates will be added over time):

Tuesday 1 February 2022 – Talk and signing event, Eastside Historical Society, Jersey Park Pavilion. 10 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.

PLEASE NOTE SOME OF THE EVENTS ARE FOR MEMBERS OF PARTICULAR SOCIETIES. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SOCIETY IF YOU ARE A NON-MEMBER AND WISH TO ATTEND.

Purchase Options – “Wales’ Unknown Hero…”

With a bit of luck, I will be able to post details on here later this week about how folk who have not already ordered online my biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant can get copies. There will be info on how to get a signed copy and also details of how copies can be picked up in person, given the difficulties surrounding Covid.

Watch this space for further details…

Almost there!

My biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant is now being edited at Y Lolfa – quite a few grammatical corrections, a few factual queries but its well on the way to being ready for publication.

Like many publishers, Y Lolfa are ploughing through a backlog of new titles that should have appeared in 2020 but were delayed by the pandemic. All being well and with a bit of luck, the book should be in the shops/online etc. in early October. Fingers crossed…

13 May…

Eighty-one years ago, on 13 May 1940, Henry Coombe-Tennant stepped ashore with his Welsh and Irish Guards comrades at the Hook of Holland, as part of a composite battalion sent over to try and stabilise the situation following the German invasion. The situation was hopeless and the men were withdrawn after a few days and several casualties….

Seventy-five years ago, on 13 May 1946, Henry was in Palestine, attempting to prevent Jew and Arab from killing each other. In that situation it seems that, very sadly, some things never change…

Revised publication date…

As my publishers (Y Lolfa) grapple with a number of books planned for 2020 that were delayed by the Covid pandemic, the publication date of my biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant has been pushed back to late September 2021. That is the time the book will finally appear in physical form – it might take a week or two after that to filter into the bookshops/web etc.

Trust me – it’ll be worth the wait!

What to Title the Chapters?

With my biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant having a final polish, what do I call the chapters? Harder than it sounds, really, but having given it a bit of thought, I’ve come up with:

Chapter One: A New Messiah (Henry was born to a plan that would see him become the New Messiah.)

Chapter Two: The Wise One (A talented toddler, nicknamed The Wise One by his family.)

Chapter Three: Escaping Eton (He was unhappy at Eton.)

Chapter Four: Conquering Cambridge (Henry gained a double-first degree)

Chapter Five: With the Welsh Guards (He joined the army in the 1930s.)

Chapter Six: Into Battle – May 1940 (Involved in the fighting at the Hook of Holland and Boulogne, where he was captured.)

Chapter Seven: Winifred Goes to War (Winifred Coombe Tennant’s efforts on behalf of her POW son.)

Chapter Eight: Over the Wire (In 1942 Henry escapes from the POW camp in Germany.)

Chapter Nine: Evading the Enemy (He makes his way – with two comrades – out of Germany and, eventually, to Spain.)

Chapter Ten: Operation Jedburgh (In 1944 Henry trains as a Special Operations Executive agent)

Chapter Eleven: Behind Enemy Lines (He is parachuted into the Ardennes where he helps the Resistance fight the Nazis.)

Chapter Twelve: The Road to Germany (In September 1944 he rejoins his regiment and fights his way into Germany.)

Chapter Thirteen: Patrolling Palestine (He serves in Palestine, trying to keep Arab and Jew from fighting each other.)

Chapter Fourteen: Inside Intelligence (Intelligence work in post-war Germany and Austria before joining MI6 and serving in Iraq in 1959.)

Chapter Fifteen: Peace Among Thorns – Downside Abbey (Henry retires and, after his traumatic experiences in Iraq, becomes a Benedictine Monk.)

Nicely chronological!