Seventy years ago, World War II uprooted my father, Norman Buckle, from a coal mining village in South Yorkshire and transported him thousands of miles to Sierra Leone in West Africa and later to a tropical island in the Pacific.
"I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety" presents the diary extracts Norman wrote when stationed at naval shore-bases in Freetown, Sierra Leone; Sidney, Australia; and Ponam in the Admiralty Islands.
My own fascination with family history has lead me to research the background to the diary which is included as annotations to the text.
The book is not an account of battles and action: it describes some of Norman's experiences far away from home and his everyday life as a shore-based radio mechanic during WW2.
Approximately 22,000 words long, the book is roughly half and half diary and annotations.
There may be a few passages in the diary extracts that upset modern sensibilities.
"I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety" presents the diary extracts Norman wrote when stationed at naval shore-bases in Freetown, Sierra Leone; Sidney, Australia; and Ponam in the Admiralty Islands.
My own fascination with family history has lead me to research the background to the diary which is included as annotations to the text.
The book is not an account of battles and action: it describes some of Norman's experiences far away from home and his everyday life as a shore-based radio mechanic during WW2.
Approximately 22,000 words long, the book is roughly half and half diary and annotations.
There may be a few passages in the diary extracts that upset modern sensibilities.
