Suzy Henderson

Synopsis: Asked why he was in Britain, a US serviceman, fighting the war in the skies over Germany with the US 8th Air Force quipped, 'We're here to win the war for you'. The men of the US 8th AF dropped more bombs on Germany and Italy than any other air force, with most of their raids being in daylight. Martin Bowman has spent much of the past two decades recording the memories of hundreds of American airmen who came to Britain to fight the Germans and Italians. Giving a unique insight into both combat missions and life back at base, he has managed to compile a fascinating oral history of the war through the words of the men who took it direct to the heart of both Germany and Italy, men who risked their lives daily in the search for freedom for occupied Europe. A fascinating history from the voices of the American airmen who flew daily from bases in East Anglia to the heart of Germany. Review : For anyone with an interest in World War Two, especially the war fought fr...

I began the research for my novel approximately 18 months ago. Historical fiction is not exactly straight forward -well, you can't simply write from your imagination. Historical accuracy is essential, especially if you want good reviews! The problem I have is that just when I think I have done the ground work, my writing reveals that's not quite the case. I find that I am forever dipping in and out of books, looking up this and that and spending hours online researching. The perils of the latter, as you will be well aware are that one can so easily become sidetracked and waste time. One of the biggest problems I've encountered is 'place.' Researching the place where particular events happened is clearly essential and the best way forward is to visit the relevant locations. However, whilst location never alters, landscape invariably does. For me, visiting old airfields is great but frustrating. The majority are as if they never existed, the land having been return...

Spring appears to be here finally, in chilly Cumbria. There are signs of growth everywhere in the garden, the daffodils are gradually springing into action and finally, having suffered a blow to my creativity lately, I sense the wind is changing. The writing has been slow and perhaps not as steady as I would have liked. However, I have been reading like mad. As most people know who visit my blog, I am an avid World War Two amateur historian and writer. My research is constantly ongoing and just lately I've been reading several books about the unsung heroes of the air who risked life and limb to fly Bombers. My latest read is by the author, Kevin Wilson: There were many ways for a combat crew to die during Bomber Command's war of 1944. Over German territory, bursts of heavy flak could tear the wings from their planes in a split second. Flaming bullets from German fighter planes could explode their fuel tanks, cut their oxygen supplies, destroy their engines. In the spring ...