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My next book, which is a collection of true stories told to me by the people who were there, will be published in the late Spring/early Summer of 2012.
However, none of my books are available in digital format. As a small writing and publishing business, we strongly believe in the great value to communities of local bookshops. If all books are available in a digital format, bookshops go out of business and that wonderful resourse is lost to us all for ever.
We take great care and expense to produce our books to a very high quality standard. One of the reasons for this is so that original photographs, sometimes nearly 100 years old, will reproduce more clearly. This quality and clarity is not available digitally.
Please help us to maintain the iconic culture of reading a printed book which will survive passing technology changes. Cared for, a book is forever.
This picture from my own collection is of the Home Guard Parade in Wellington, Shropshire in November 1940 and will appear, along with many others, in my new book which is due out in the Spring/early Summer this year. It is a wonderful collection of true stories from people I have met. Fully researched and verified, these stories make a fascinating read and a great present for yourself or anyone interested in the Second World War.
If you are looking for a special present, our books make the ideal gift. True stories of real people who, as many have said, despite the rationing, the sadness, the bombing, the shortages and the danger, spent the best years of our lives duering the war.
Another Dawn Another Dusk is the biography of a rear gunner in Bomber Command who survived 59 missions against enemy fighters, anti-aircraft fire and just the general danger of flying in an aircraft full of petrol, bombs, ammunition and sparks. Trevor Bowyer was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his courage against the enemy.
The D-Day Dodger is Albert Darlington's own autobiography of his time as a below age infantry soldier in the Oxford & Buckinghamshire Regt. Serving in Africa and then Italy, he was wounded several times and when attched to the American army was awarded the Purple Heart.
Both books make fascinating reading and can be bought for £10 each or £15 for the two.
"You have awoken so many happy memories for me of my Service during the war. Despite everything that we had to put up with, this was the happiest and most exciting time of my life."
The words of appreciation from a former Womens' Land Army member who served throughout the war.
If you are looking for a speaker for your group, or know someone who is looking for one, please contact Ken or Elaine on 01952 223931.
We do not charge any fees, only ask for a donation to a local charity.
I am very happy to say that my talk to the audience at the Wellington Literary Festival in October was a great success and was very well received. I had a lot of very enthusiastic and complimentary comments on the evening and afterwards about the talk and everything that we are doing to support local and national charities from our talks.
Thank you to everyone who came to listen to me and for being such a lovely and enthusiastic audience.
I am very grateful to the Wellington Literary Festival Organisers for kindly inviting me to speak and to Pat Fairclough for her introduction and generous vote of thanks on the evening.
I would also like to say a very big thank you to Caroline Mulvihill for all her hard work and help with the Festival. It is so often the people we don't see that make these events really happen. Thank you very much Caroline.
The Festival was a great success across all events and continues to grow in reputation.
Enjoy an evening of nostalgia with a fully illustrated talk about life in Britain before and during World War 2, when Ken relates some of the many stories which have been told to him by the people who lived through those years.
Wednesday 19th October 2011 sees successful Shropshire author Kenneth Ballantyne return to this prestigious literary festival with a new fully illustrated talk at 7pm in the Civic Offices, Wellington.
Ken will be presenting a glimpse into life in Britain before and during World War 2, drawing upon the experiences of people he has met who lived through those years. He will also be including some previously unpublished material which will be featureds in his new book due out at Easter next year.
There will also be an exhibition of memorabilia from his own collection for visitors to look at before and after his talk. Signed copies of his best selling biography, Another Dawn Another Dusk will be on sale at the event.Wednesday 19th October 2011 sees successful Shropshire author Kenneth Ballantyne return to this prestigious literary festival with a new fully illustrated talk at 7pm in the Civic Offices, Wellington.
Ken will be presenting a glimpse into life in Britain before and during World War 2, drawing upon the experiences of people he has met who lived through those years. He will also be including some previously unpublished material which will be featureds in his new book due out at Easter next year.
There will also be an exhibition of memorabilia from his own collection for visitors to look at before and after his talk. Signed copies of his best selling biography, Another Dawn Another Dusk will be on sale at the event.
I am extremely grateful to the very talented aviation artist, Alex Hamilton who has most kindly given me permission to reproduce his wonderful paintings in Another Dawn Another Dusk.
Happily i own two fabulous prints of Alex's paintings, 'Foxtrot Landings' and 'Strike in the Aegean' which, along with his other paintings can be viewed at http://www.alexhamilton.net
The picture of 'Daily Inpections' is another of Alex's paintings, the original of which i believe is still for sale. It is a great acknowledgement to the wonderful job which the RAF ground crews did during the war to keep the aircraft flying.
Many heavy bombers in particular would struggle home with broken engines and holes in the fuselage and it was the ground crews who patched them up and got them flying once more.
Bomber Command aircraft actually belonged to the ground crews; the aircrew only 'borrowed' them for the operation and had to sign them out and back in again.
Now in its third print run, Another Dawn Another Dusk has become a best selling title. Trevor Bowyer flew his second tour of ops from RAF Coningsby and RAF Skellingthorpe in the winter and spring of 1944 with the crew that included Arthur Atkinson [pictured] as the wireless operator on Lancster 'T' Tommy. Arthur returned to the familiar siurroundings of the Lancaster wireless operators' seat when he retired from his peacetime job.
You will be able to read more of Arthur's exploits and experiences in Kenneth Ballantyne's next book which will be published in 2012.
"This is an enjoyable, educational and fascinating read that will have you looking for more of the author’s writing." The decision to write the story of rear gunner Trevor Bowyer DFC, ISM – a veteran of two tours – in the first person, however, was not the easiest path to follow. To see the war through Trevor’s eyes required an immense amount of knowledge of the war to begin with but certainly would have included long periods of time with the family and Bowyer’s contemporaries. A challenge if ever there was one. The result? Another Dawn Another Dusk – a well-produced paperback written with such insight I had to keep reminding myself it was Kenneth doing the writing not Trevor!
The writing is very descriptive and the imagery it invokes in the reader is particularly strong. I would argue the author’s greatest challenge was to not make the book seem like a dry memoir as could have so easily happened. Indeed, I was particularly taken by some of the metaphors used during Trevor’s time on ops. These are used powerfully and with great effect and indicate an author very much in tune with his subject. Perhaps the example that had me gasping with sudden realisation was, when referring to a Wimpey at night over the desert, this:
“The ground beneath us drifted by like a pale silver cloth slipping slowly from the table over which it had been laid.”
Read more: http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com/2011/05/another-dawn-another-dusk-...