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Book Review

I've published a review of  "From Trincomalee to Portsea:  The Diary of Eliza Blunt 1818 - 1822"  transcribed and explained by Mary Hope Monnery at http://www.indie-bookworm.blogspot.com
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Should you publish your personal memoir or family story on #Kindle?

One of the most exciting aspects of the epublishing revolution is the proliferation of new writing that wouldn't be handled by the traditional publishers. I'm thinking particularly here of personal memoirs and family stories. I got into epublishing to help my husband bring his novel  Magnificent Britain  in front of an audience. It was several months after the launch of  Magnificent Britain  that I began to think about publishing a diary that my father had written during World War II.  I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II  was released as a Kindle ebook in October last year and I'm really pleased that I took the decision to publish it; my dad, who died many years ago, would have been amazed. I've downloaded and enjoyed reading several WWII memoirs and also this diary from a much earlier era.  From Trincomalee to Portsea: The Diary of Eliza Bunt 1818 - 1822  is a fascinating diary transcribed
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The Building of the US Navy Airstrip on Ponam Island 1944

In 1945, my dad was sent out to the Admiralty Islands as part of the back-up team with the British Pacific Fleet. As a member of MONAB IV (see previous post http://tinned-variety.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/monab-1-10.html ) he was stationed on the island of Ponam, near Manus, in what is now part of Papua New Guinea. When I was researching for my annotations to I Think I Prefer the TinnedVariety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm duringWorld War II  I found out that Ponam Island had been prepared for service in the Pacific War by the American Construction Battalions – CBs – who came to be known as The SeaBees. Ponam Island from the air From the air Ponam Island looked rather like an aircraft carrier and the American SeaBees had built an airfield on it using crushed coral for the runway. The island was handed over to the Royal Navy fully equipped. As well as the airstrip there were aircraft repair shops and storage for aircraft parts; petrol and oil storage
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Churchill and the British Pacific Fleet

When I was reading background for my annotations to  " I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety" I tried to understand what preceded British involvement in the war in the Pacific. Although the British Pacific Fleet didn't commence operations until 1945, the preparations were evolving throughout 1944. I stumbled upon some new information recently while reading "Churchill and Sea  Power" by Christopher M. Bell.  Apparently Churchill himself was very keen on a British only initiative in S.E. Asia and was not at all in favour of sending the Royal Navy to join with the Americans. He was committed to Operation Culverin which was intended to establish a British presence in Malaya and Sumatra with the objective of ultimately re-taking Singapore. However, since November 1943, the Chiefs of Staff of the three armed forces had been in discussions with the Americans about a British presence in the Pacific using bases in Australia. Churchill managed to get confirmation fro
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Home Sweet Home

In the introduction to I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II   I make the point that the majority of volunteers into the armed forces for the duration of WW2 had had little expectation of global travel prior to the war. When he signed up for the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in 1943 my dad, Norman Buckle, had only ever been on holiday to a few seaside resorts such as Scarborough, Blackpool and Morecambe. He rarely went more than a few miles from home and usually this was on his bike. His war-time experiences took him over 4,000 miles from South Yorkshire to the coast of West Africa and over 12,000 miles to the Pacific Island of Ponam via Sidney in Australia. Norman was born in 1924 in Royston, a coal mining village in South Yorkshire. His mother's family (The Smiths) had moved to Royston in about 1880 and his father's family (The Buckles) had gone there in the late 1890s. The Smiths came from Mon
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