Talkshow Thursday: Welcome, Gretchen Carlson!

 Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Gretchen Carlson!

I’m thrilled to be hosting, fellow ACFW member, Gretchen Carlson whose novels are set during my favorite time-period! Read on to me her, and learn a bit about her inspiration, research, and lots more.

Share a real-life event that inspired your writing:

Born in 1900, my grandmother spoke of her horse and buggy experiences, life through the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and both World Wars. However, she was in her eighties when she shared a Christmas story from 1939 that had been kept secret for decades. The beauty of the event, how a poor struggling farm family got electricity, burned in my heart until I wrote the last page of More Than Grit. Her story is of broken lives, deep friendships and the power of forgiveness. Today’s culture applauds independence and self-sufficiency, but we need more than determination and our own grit.

What research did you do for your story, and was there an interesting tidbit you knew you had to include?

The setting of my debut book, More Than Grit, is rural Kansas in September 1939 which is when Hitler

invaded Poland. As European countries fell, American politics grew hot with debates of Isolationism. As I wove threads of the World War II, I enjoyed reading President Roosevelt’s and Winston Churchhill’s speeches, and I listened to original radio recordings. Each chapter begins with a quote from one of them.

A humorous tidbit I discovered (and included) revolved around the date of Thanksgiving. During the fall of 1939 our national holiday mushroomed into a huge political issue. States and families chose different dates for the holiday.

Is your book a part of a series: Did you set out to write a series?

No … but … I did. When my readers asked for another book, I got busy. I Be Brave is a sequel, however, both books have their own ending. The second book begins in 1940 with the same farm family and many of the original characters. I didn’t dare cut readers’ favorite onery, Old Man, but I added a heart-tugging Down Syndrome teen. Once again, I wove in events of World War II.

What draws you to the time period about which you write?

The people. The Great Depression and both World Wars hammered ordinary individuals into heroes and a resilient generation. I enjoyed researching and telling their stories. Inspiration for one character came from an obituary of a Sunday School teacher in a small rural church who greatly impacted youth.

How are your characters like you? Different?

When I finished writing the last paragraph of More Than Grit, I wept. It hit me that I am like my protagonist. Too often I strive and push, thinking everything depends upon me, but even when I’ve failed to trust God, he pours out his grace—especially through family and friends. My prayer is that my books will remind readers that God is involved in the details of our lives.

About I Be Brave:

While war rages in Europe, a Kansas family faces battles of its own.

In the summer of 1940, as Hitler’s armies destroy Europe, guilt ravages thirteen-year-old Sissy’s heart after her younger brother dies—on her watch. Nothing she does can mend the rift between her and her mother. When an abused and abandoned boy follows Sissy to her farm in rural Kansas, she knows he can’t stay permanently with her broken family, and yet she tries to help him.

Her actions stir up fierce controversy in the community and threaten the loss of her family’s farm, driving a deeper wedge between Sissy and her mother. Even though Sissy risks everything to save the boy, her courage can’t heal the hurt and bitterness which blaze hotter than the Kansas summer sun—unless there is forgiveness. But forgiveness is as elusive as victory in Europe.

Award-winning author of More Than Grit, Gretchen A. Carlson writes books that appeal to readers who love to root for the underdog and who desire to rise above fear.

Purchase Links:
More Than Grit: https://amzn.to/47Wc26d

I Be Brave: https://amzn.to/4uF0zSv

Social Media Links:
Email: gretchencarlsonwriter@gmail.com
Website: https://gretchen-carlson.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gretchen.carlson.31
Television Interview: https://www.wibw.com/video/2022/09/27/more-than-grit-gretchen-carlson-author/

Photo Credits:

Author Photo and Book Image: Courtesy Gretchen Carlson

Turkey Dinner: Pixabay

Farm: Pixabay/Albrecht Fietz

Traveling Tuesday: New Mexico and WWII

Traveling Tuesday: New Mexico During WWII

Most students of WWII know that New Mexico was home to the famous (infamous?) Manhattan Project, the government project centered around developing nuclear weapons. However, the forty-seventh state made other contributions to the war effort.

With nearly 50,000 men in the armed forces, New Mexico had both the highest volunteer rate and the highest casualty rate of the forty-eight states that were then in the Union. In addition, hundreds of men from the New Mexico National Guard were in the Philippines at Clark Field and Fort Stotsenburg manning anti-aircraft guns when the area was bombed by the Japanese only ten hours after the attack at Pearl Harbor.

Many of the famed Navajo code-talkers came from New Mexico. Philip Johnston, a WWI veteran who was fluent in the Navajo language, helped recruit the “original twenty-nine,” as they were called, who developed the code that was modified as the war progressed. About 540 Navajos served in the Marine Corps, of whom 400 served as code-talkers.

New Mexico was home to nearly sixty military installations from Airbases and Gunnery Ranges to Army Hospitals and Camps. The most prominent airbase was Kirtland Field in Albuquerque. Originally an advanced flight school for Air Corps pilot, the base was converted to a major base used to train B-24 crewmen, B-29 pilots, A-11 pilots, glider pilots, mechanics, navigators, and other air personnel.

Like many western and southwestern states, New Mexico was home to internment camps, mostly holding individuals of Japanese descent. Unfortunately, there was a shooting death in 1942 at Camp Lordsburg and a riot at Camp Santa Fe in 1945 that marred the otherwise peaceful existence within the camps. There were also POW camps in the state that imprisoned German and Italian soldiers. An escape from Camp Stanton occurred in November 1942, but the four prisoners were quickly caught and returned.

Have you ever visited the beautiful state of New Mexico?

Wartime Wednesday: War Bonds

Wartime Wednesday: War Bonds

Individuals, organizations (such as the American Women’s Voluntary Service), and the government all sold War Bonds during WWII. In fact, the Fed spent millions of dollars in advertising to get the word out about purchasing bonds. In addition, Hollywood celebrities, sports figures, and other famous people attended rallies and made radio announcements to encourage people to buy.

How did the public feel about the campaigns?

Thanks to the many surveys conducted throughout the war by various government agencies and departments on just about everything: women in the workforce, rationing, spending habits, and war bond campaigns, there are reports that tell us.

Apparently, not everyone was happy about the constant barrage of sales messages. 

Here are a few responses from a Department of Treasury questionnaire:

“I sometimes wonder if they aren’t spending too much money on these campaigns. It might be necessary, I don’t know, but I think people should buy bonds without too much urging.”

“The fact that the radio keeps hammering away at mothers and fathers to buy for their sons on the front is overdone.”

“I don’t think that things that work on the nation’s emotions are necessary. Just a calm statement of what they need occasionally would be enough.”

“Sometimes the radio programs were too blunt and dogmatic to have an appeal.”

What percentage of the population was unhappy with the constant selling is unclear. But unhappy or not, men, women and children dug deep and purchased over $180 billion dollars in bonds.

Traveling Tuesday: Ellis Island

Traveling Tuesday: Ellis Island

I love discovering tidbits of history and then researching to dig up additional information. Recently, I read a post in one of my favorite blogs (Heroes, Heroines, and History) about Ellis Island and the fact that it was used as an internment camp during WWII. With all the research and reading I’ve done about the war, I was surprised I had never stumbled on this fact. When searching my own genealogy, I started with Ellis Island, but soon found that as some of the thousands of Germans who immigrated to the US, my family came through Baltimore. Perhaps I gave up my study of the Island too soon.

The history of Ellis Island goes back to before the colonial days of our country when much of the Upper New York Bay was oyster flats. Samuel Ellis acquired it at some point then tried to sell it without success shortly after the Revolutionary War. Eventually it was leased by the State of New York then ceded to the Federal Government in the early 1807. A fort was erected on it and used during the War of 1812 and remained until 1890 when it was converted to an immigration station.

Then, interestingly, and perhaps ironically the port became a detention center during WWII. 

Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, hundreds of German, Italian, and Japanese individuals were arrested and relocated to the Island. They were detained as being possible Axis spies, saboteurs, and fifth columnists. Many of those individuals were U.S. citizens, and it would be months before they could prove their allegiance and be released.

Ellis Island was designated as a permanent holding facility, and more than 8,000 foreign nationals were held during the war. Over 2,500 Germans and their American-born children back to Germany in “exchange voyages” made on Swedish ships. Personal accounts as well as government reports indicate that conditions were not good on the island. Overcrowding, poor food, and poor medical care were just three of issues associated with the detention center.

When the war ended, many of the internees were deported, while other remained awaiting their fate and submitting petitions to be allowed to stay in the U.S. The last German internee was released in 1948.

Wartime Wednesday: The Girl Scouts During WWII

Wartime Wednesday: The Girl Scouts During WWII

First I was a Brownie, then a Girl Scout through eighth grade. I had excellent leaders and made happy memories during my time in the Scouting ranks. I earned my fair share of badges and gained prowess in many areas. Founded in March 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low, the organization’s mission was to build character through community service, outdoor activities, and homemaking skills.

With service being an integral part of the Girl Scout’s credo, they were active in myriad ways on the World War II home front. Like most Americans, the girls created Victory gardens, collected scrap metal and fat, and sold war bonds. However, they also collected over one million articles of clothing for refugees, and some of the girls worked as farm aides while others served as bicycle couriers.

In 1942, the Senior-level girls started a hospital aide program. Tasks included performing clerical work, assisting patients with eating, and making beds. Another interesting project they were responsible for was the Defense Institute that was geared toward teaching survival skills and ways to comfort children during possible air raids.

With rationing in full force by 1944, the Girl Scouts set aside their famous cookies to sell calendars. Also mindful of the shortage of fabric and sewing notions, the uniform was changed from a zippered bodice to one that buttoned. In honor of the group’s founder, the one hundred and first Liberty ship was given the name S.S. Juliette Low and launched in Savannah, GA on May 12, 1944. Christened by Ms. Low’s niece Margaret Gordon, the ship was operated by the South Atlantic Steamship Line and carried cargo for the British, Lend Lease, and U.S. Army in nearly all wartime theaters of operation. Ms. Low would no doubt be pleased to know the ship served with distinction until being scuttled in 1972.

Were you ever part of the Scouts or other girl’s organization?

Wartime Wednesday: Rationing Up Close and Personal

Wartime Wednesday: Rationing Up Close and Personal

Rationing is one of the topics that often comes to mind when discussing the war’s impact on the home front. The concept came home to roost in a small way last week. I have a strong sweet tooth. As far as I’m concerned it’s not a meal if it doesn’t include dessert. 

I decided to make some cookies and went to the pantry and fridge to collect ingredients only to discover we were out of eggs. That’s not normally a big deal, but this month has been a financial challenge with large unexpected expenses such as four new tires and a broken furnace on top of the planned expense of personal property taxes.

We had run out of money before we ran out of month. (I hate when that happens!)

As a result, I couldn’t go to the store to purchase eggs. It wasn’t because of ration points or unavailability like it was during wartime, but I was in the same boat nonetheless. What to do? After all, I still had a hankering for dessert.

Time to go to my wartime cookbook. Who knew it would come in handy quite so soon? 

So here is a yummy (eggless!) dessert of Apple Crisp:

2 Cups peeled and sliced apples

2 t cinnamon

½ Cup water

¾ Cup flour

½ Cup shortening (I used butter)

1 Cup brown sugar

1/8 t salt

Grease a one quart baking dish (an 8X8 will do nicely). Put the apples in it and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Pour the water into the dish.

Put the remaining ingredients into a bowl and with your fingertips, rub the flour, shortening, sugar, and salt together. When it is crumbly and the shortening is well distributed, sprinkle the mixture over the apples.

Place the dish in a 350 degree oven and bake about 20 minutes until the apples are tender and the top browned and crisp. This is also tasty with peaches, apricots, cherries, or blueberries.

Enjoy!

Wartime Wednesday: Better Meals in Wartime

Wartime Wednesday: Better Meals in Wartime

I received a wonderful Christmas gift from one of my close friends. Knowing my love of all things WWII as well as my need for research items, she gave me a cookbook she stumbled on in a used bookstore. Better Meals in Wartime: The Point-Saver Cook Book was published in 1943 by Crown Publishers. Advertising itself to be  "a simple, practical guide that shows how to prepare tasty and appetizing meals despite shortages, rationing and high prices," the book claims "this book will not solve all your food problems but it will help you to provide better meals now."

What I found most fascinating is the first chapter called War Time Extenders, Remedies and Economies. Author Lola Wyman whose credentials are not listed anywhere in the book or on the flyleaf writes as if she is talking directly to the home cook. She says, "I have experimented with 8 different methods of whipping light cream employing  various commercial products, powdered vegetable gums, gelatin and lemon juice. Only the latter method is satisfactory." She provides advice on potato water (the water used to boil potatoes): "Of course, you will save all other vegetable waters, but have you though of saving the water in which you cooked peeled potatoes? This has splendid flavor. Simply add milk and seasonings and, if you have it, a cooked, mashed potato."

Her section on Kitchen Catastrophes exhorts readers that "in these war time days it is more important than ever to avert kitchen catastrophes whenever possible. However, with the most careful attention, accidents may happen." She goes on to provide solutions for burned pans, gravy gone wrong, curdled sauces, burned cakes, and unsuccessful frosting.

The introduction is three pages of "a variety of well-balanced menus. Each contains a suitable proportion of the necessary calories, vitamins, minerals, etc." But perhaps the best chapter is the one on leftovers. Not too imaginative, I usually just reheat the meal. Ms. Wyman includes a two page index of a wide variety of leftover foods from bacon fat and fish to creamed vegetables.

How many of you have inherited a cookbook that contained handwritten notes from the former owner? Better Meals in Wartime includes Ms. Wyman's editorial comments on many of the recipes:

• Salisbury Steak - Our old friend, the hamburg, improved and disguised
• Bitochky - An excellent Russian recipe to try when you have a cup of sour cream
• Baked veal hearts - Gamey like squab
• Imperial crab - This is a famous crab dish and is served hot
• Tamale Pie - Nourishing yet delicious

Taped inside the cover is a recipe cut from the Miami Daily News for Chocolate Ice Box Cake and tucked in between the pages are four index cards clipped together that contain recipes for French Dressing (dated 1937 and signed S. J. Kennedy, Ft. Meyers, Florida), and two copies of a recipe for Hollandaise Sauce.

A true treasure, I can't wait to dig further into Better Meals in Wartime. What is your most special gift?

Traveling Tuesday: Hatfield House

Traveling Tuesday: Hatfield House

Writers get their inspiration for stories in numerous places. I’ve culled ideas from newspaper articles, museum exhibits, and snippets of overheard conversation (a great “what if” starter). The basis for my most recent story, A Doctor in the House, part of “The Hope of Christmas” collection germinated from an episode of “Foyle’s War” in which a country home is requisitioned for use as a convalescent hospital.  

I was intrigued by the concept that homeowners in England could be forced from their property by the government during WWII. Most of the places taken were large country estates with acres of associated land. Sometimes as little as three days’ notice was given that the house was going to be used and the residents were required to vacate. Often there was a “cottage” on site where owners could live in for the duration of the war.

During my search for a setting, I discovered Hatfield House, located in Herefordshire, England. Located in the West Midlands on the border between England and Wales, the county is sparsely populated and known for its fruit and cider production and the Hereford cattle breed. The 135 mile River Wye weaves through the county before heading into Wales. Although the original structure no longer exists, there has been a Hereford Cathedral on the site since the late 600s.

The original Hatfield House was constructed in 1497 and was the childhood home and favorite residence of Queen Elizabeth I. When James I came to the throne, he didn’t like the property, so gave it to his minister, Robert Cecil, who promptly tore down three of the wings and used the bricks for the current home.

Exquisite gardens cover forty-two acres and date from the early 1600s. In addition to beautiful fields of flowers and shrubbery, the property has extensive woodlands which are home to fallow and red deer as well as many smaller animals.  A tour of Hatfield House can be seen here.

During WWI, the grounds were used to test the first British tanks. Trenches and craters were dug, and barbed wired strung to indicate German lines. Hatfield House also “did its bit” during WWII by serving as a hospital/Civil Resettlement Unit, a facility where returning British soldiers who had been POWs could learn to ease back into their families and society.

Pre-order your copy of A Doctor in the House today.

Talkshow Thursday: Meet Debut Author Jeanne Dickson

Talkshow Thursday: Meet Debut Author Jeanne Dickson

Linda:  Thanks for joining me today. Your debut novel, Grounded Hearts, was released in June of this year and is set during WWII. (My favorite time period!) Where did you find your inspiration for this story?

Jeanne: My father was stationed in England during WWII. Issued with a weekend pass, he decided to fly to the U.S. Army base in Northern Ireland, and then visit family who lived nearby. Once there, he borrowed a bicycle and peddled across the border into Eire, “Free Ireland.” A few minutes into his ride, a member of the Garda, the Irish National Police, stopped him. The officer told him to turn his army jacket inside out, or he’d have to arrest him as a combatant and send him to the K-Lines internment camp. My father did as directed and continued on his way without further incident, which was fortunate because 240 soldiers from both sides of the conflict faced internment in Ireland during the war.

Remembering the story, I started the “what if” game. The more I researched the period the Irish called “The Emergency,” the more fascinated I became, and a WWII romance between a downed RAF pilot and a feisty midwife emerged.

LM: That is fascinating. I love books based on true stories. First novels are often the result of a long journey toward publication. How did you get started as a writer, and how did you decide to seek publication?

Jeanne: Grounded Hearts is my debut novel, but not my first book. I penned five or six novels before I finally received my first contract. During this long slog to publication, I sometimes wondered why I thought writing fiction was a good idea, but when God puts something on your heart, it’s foolish to resist.

LM: Amen to that! The age old question for writers – are you a planner or a “panster,” and what is your favorite part of the writing process?

Jeanne: While I plan the novel’s journey, I allow for detours. It’s a process, and honestly, every book is a bit different. The “what if” is my favorite part and then research to back up my premise statement.

LM: Writing about a different era and culture required lots of research.What tidbit did you discover during that phase of writing that created an “aha” moment for you?

Jeanne: Ireland was neutral during WWII? What? They interned combatants? What?

LM: What’s the quirkiest thing you’ve ever done?

Jeanne: Well, I guess I’m still doing it. I have a collection of Barbie dolls that I dress up as my characters in whatever book I’m working on. They’re my muses. And my only weakness. Maybe.

LM: How fun! What is your next project?

Jeanne:  I’m currently working on a contemporary romance. A woman falls in love with her contractor as she struggles to renovate an inherited Irish manor house, but when she discovers a buried body, it throws into question the role an ancestor may have played in the girl’s death, and the discovery of an ancient fairy ring creates friction in the town, pitting traditionalist against progressives.

LM: Ooooh. Sounds intriguing! What advice can you give to not-yet-published writers?

Jeanne: Don’t give up and don’t be in hurry. Getting published is going to take more time than you might think. Learn your craft. Find a writing community to hang out with because you are not alone. I belong to RWA and ACFW. It can be hard, but don’t be shy and go to conferences. I found many friends, my agent, and my editor at conferences.

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Jeanne:

Website: http://www.jeannemdickson.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jeanne-M-Dickson-660226910801814/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmdickson1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeannedickson/

Email: author.jeannemdickson@gmail.com

Purchase your copy: 

Amazon

Barnes & Nobel

War Time Wednesday: Victory Cake

War Time Wednesday: Victory Cake

It was all about Victory during WWII. Victory gardens, Victory Youth Corps, and victory jobs. Advertisers were quick to use the phrase in their marketing materials in an effort to appeal to customers’ sense of patriotism. Many a recipe included “victory” in its title, and here’s just one version of a Victory Cake from The Modern Hostess Cook Book Patriotic Edition published in 1942. A housewife would have had to save her milk and sugar rations for this yummy dessert – it calls for a cup of sugar and a half pint of heavy cream.

1 2/3 cup cake flour, sifted

2 t baking powder

¾ t salt

½ pint heavy cream

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, separated

2 t grated orange rind

1 t grated lemon rind

 

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. White the cream until just stiff. Gradually add the sugar to the cream. Add the egg yokes one at a time while beating slowly. Fold in the dry ingredients a little at a time to the creamed mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff then fold into the creamed mixture. Add the grated rinds.

Grease and flour a 9 X 5 loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Frost or sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Traveling Tuesday: A Bridge Too Far

Traveling Tuesday: A Bridge Too Far

As I continually research WWII for my novels, I am constantly reminded at just how far reaching the war was. It was not called a world war for nothing. The conflict seemed to impact every corner of the globe. An area I have only recently begun to study is the Netherlands, also known as Holland. The European portion (there are three Dutch islands in the Caribbean) borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest. Invaded by Germany on May 10, 1940, the country remained occupied for nearly the entire war.

The Battle of Arnhem was fought in September 1944 with Operation Market (airborne forces who would take the bridges) Garden (ground forces) being the Allied plan of attack. It was a brutal and unsuccessful campaign resulting in nearly 20,000 casualties. The road bridge over the Lower Rhine was the final objective of the operation. Troops were to secure the rails, road, and pontoon bridges and hold them until they could be relieved by the XXX Corps. However, German resistance was stronger than anticipated, and they overwhelmed the Allied troops after eight days. A later assessment by military commentators and historians indicated that priority should have been given to securing Nijmegan Bridge.

The bridge was later destroyed during a bombing raid in October, 1944. Arnhem was liberated the following year, and a new bridge was erected shortly thereafter. Because it was a truss-style bridge, it was too low for ships to pass under and subsequently replaced. In 1977, it was renamed the John Frostbrug (literally John Frost Bridge) in honor of the Major General who commanded the British forces that reached and defended the bridge.

Although the operation was a failure, Arnhem became a byword for the fighting spirit of the British people. A Bridge Too Far was written in 1974 by Cornelius Evans, and adapted for film by William Goldman in 1977. The cast is a who’s who list in Hollywood including Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Liv Ullmann, Elliott Gould, James Caan, and Michael Caine. The book’s title is supposed to have come from an unconfirmed comment by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery: “I think we may be going a bridge too far.”

Initially received with mixed reviews, the film has since become a WWII classic. Have you seen it?

Wartime Wednesday: The Shetland Bus

Wartime Wednesday: The Shetland Bus

I recently discovered a BBC mystery show called “Shetland.” Well-written and realistic without being gruesome, the series is set on the Shetland Isles, an archipelago made up of over 100 islands (15 of which are inhabited). Located northeast of Britain in the subarctic region, the islands are part of Scotland. They are closer to Norway than mainland Scotland, and the history of the two countries is strongly intertwined.

The first episode solved a cold case that occurred during WWII (my favorite period in history!) and involved sailors who were part of the Shetland Bus. I was unfamiliar with the Shetland Bus, so as soon as I finished watching, I dug out my computer and started researching.

The Shetland Bus was the nickname given to a loosely formed group of commercial fisherman who agreed to work for the British Secret Intelligence Service and Special Operations Executive. Their main purpose was to ferry agents, supplies, communications equipment, and weapons in and out of Norway. They also helped Norwegians, who feared arrest by the occupying Germans, to escape.

Initially there were fourteen fishing crafts used, but after several losses of boats and men, it was decided that faster ships were required. The new boats were powered by 1,200 hp diesel engines and could reach a top speed of 25 mph. In 1943, the U.S. Navy assigned three submarines to the operation, and it became an official part of the Royal Norwegian Navy. Most of the crossings were made in the winter under cover of darkness. (Like Alaska, Shetland experiences nearly 20 hours of darkness during the winter months, and the same number of hours of daylight during the summertime.) I cannot imagine how cold it was in an open boat going over the North Atlantic in winter – brrr!

Leif Larson was one of the most famous of the “Bus” men, conducting fifty-two crossings and becoming a highly decorated Naval Officer. A memorial erected in Scalloway commemorates the operation and the brave men associated with it. More information can be found in David Howarth’s Shetland Bus: A WWII Epic of Escape, Survival, and Adventure. I haven’t read the book, but over 80% of its ratings are four- and five-star.

Mystery Monday: W. Somerset Maugham-Playwright, Novelist and Spy

W. Somerset Maugham-Playwright, Novelist and Spy

W. Somerset Maugham

Every August, the local hospital conducts a street fair of enormous proportions. It has been held for decades and is greatly anticipated by locals and visitors alike. The book tent, which is of course my favorite, holds thousands of books. I have found countless treasures in the past and am looking forward to this year’s fair.

One of last year’s finds was W. Somerset Maugham’s Ashenden, or the British Agent. A collection of loosely related stories, it follows the career of writer-turned-spy Ashenden who decides his new career is not nearly as exciting as he expected. At one point he complains that his life “is orderly and monotonous as a city clerks.” Despite being surrounded by murder, intrigue, and betrayal, his job is to watch and report back to the “powers that be.”

Set during WWI and the subsequent Russian Revolution, Ashenden is partly based on Maugham’s own experiences. By 1914, he had published ten plays and ten novels. His eleventh book, Of Human Bondage, was released in 1915 while he was serving in France in the British Red Cross’s Ambulance Corp.

During his return to England to promote the book, he was recruited by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service. His first assignment was in Geneva where he set himself up as a French playwright and acted as liaison between field agents and headquarters in London. The reports were coded into his manuscripts and escaped notice of the Swiss. In 1917, Maugham was sent to Russia to gather intelligence on the German spy network.

Too old to enlist during WWII, Maugham spent the war in the United States, where he was asked by the British government to make speeches to encourage the US to send aid to the UK.

Most consider him to be the first author of spy stories who was actually a spy. He considered his exploits useful for his writing career, but not much else. In Ashenden’s forward Maugham writes, “The work of an agent in the Intelligence Department is on the whole monotonous. A lot of it is uncommonly useless.”

I wonder what today’s spies would think about his words.

Traveling Tuesday: Buckingham Palace

Traveling Tuesday: Buckingham Palace

“It all happened so quickly that we only had time to look foolishly at each other when the scream hurtled past us and exploded with a tremendous crash in the quadrangle.” So said the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth about her experience during the September 13, 1940 attack made on Buckingham Palace by the Germans during WWII. She went on to say her “knees trembled a bit,” but she was “pleased by the behavior of their servants, some of whom were injured.”

Hitler was determined to break the morale of the English people, and used a period of incessant bombing that is now known at The Blitz to try to do so. Between September 7, 1940 and May 10, industrial and civilian centers. They began with London, specifically with Buckingham Palace.

The first of sixteen hits to the Palace and its grounds (nine of which were direct hits) was on September 8^th. Fortunately that bomb was harmless. The second, which fell near the swimming pool, came the next day. The third attack, on September 13^th found its mark. A single pilot specifically targeted the Palace with a stick of five high explosive bombs. Two hit the inner quadrangle, one hit the Royal Chapel, and the remaining two fell on the forecourt and roadway between the gates and the Victoria Memorial.

The King and Queen were in residence at the time, having publicly declared they would not leave London or flee to Canada as suggested by the Foreign Office. Elizabeth stated, “The children will not leave unless I do so. I shall not leave unless their Father does, the King will not leave the country in any circumstances, whatever.”

Two more attacks occurred that month, followed by one October and again in November of that year. A tantalizing target, Buckingham Palace would be bombed several more times before the end of the war. The building was damaged, but the British spirit that Hitler hoped to smash proved to be indomitable. 

Bombing Map of Buckingham Palace

Here are some photos of damage to the Palace during the Blitz.