Suzy Henderson

Dr Arthur Courtney Saunders, a veteran and member of the Guinea Pig Club, sadly passed away on 26th February 2017, aged 94. He was known to all as Sandy. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to meet Sandy in person, but I was honoured to speak with him on the telephone last year, and our conversation shall remain with me forever. In November 2016, my debut novel, The Beauty Shop was released. I wrote it because I wanted to share with the world the remarkable story of the Guinea Pig Club - a club formed by injured servicemen who required the care of New Zealand plastic surgeon, Archibald McIndoe. It is a remarkable piece of history not only because of the pioneering plastic surgery McIndoe undertook but in everything else that he did. In many ways, he quite literally gave his all in helping 649 young men overcome the most horrific, debilitating injuries and set them back on the path to life; to living whole lives. One of the 'guinea pigs' was a young man called Sand...

My debut novel, The Beauty Shop is released today, the 28th November 2016. Set during World War Two and based on the true story of the Guinea Pig Club, it explores the nature of good looks, social acceptance and the true meaning of 'skin deep' via three interlocking experiences. Synopsis England, 1942. After three years of WWII, Britain is showing the scars. But in this darkest of days, three lives intertwine, changing their destinies and those of many more. Dr Archibald McIndoe, a New Zealand plastic surgeon with unorthodox methods, is on a mission to treat and rehabilitate badly burned airmen – their bodies and souls. With the camaraderie and support of the Guinea Pig Club, his boys battle to overcome disfigurement, pain, and prejudice to learn to live again. John ‘Mac’ Mackenzie of the US Air Force is aware of the odds. He has one chance in five of surviving the war. Flying bombing missions through hell and back, he’s fighting more than the Luftwaffe. Fear and ...

Today I'm so thrilled to welcome the author, Hilary Custance Green, who recently released her latest book, Surviving the Death Railway.  Welcome, Hilary and please tell us a little about you.          I’m a Jack of all Trades. I spent twenty years as a sculptor, then went back to university and became a Research Psychologist. To balance the academic life, I started writing and publishing fiction. I found it enormously satisfying, so since retiring from the Medical Research Council, I have continued to write. What I write is fiction, but I try and look honestly and realistically at the way individuals cope with what life throws at them.  What genres do you write and why? This is always a difficult question to answer. I guess it is literary, but at the lighter end of the genre or maybe you would say it is the literary end of general fiction. I explore some serious themes, but I like to write about love ...

Happy Birthday, Clare! Many best wishes & thanks to you.  So many have heard the name, Oskar Schindler. He was the German credited with saving around 1200 Jews. And there have been others, and today I give you the story of a lady who is 105 years old, living in a care home in Hong Kong. Her name is Clare Hollingworth. Clare is credited with being the first journalist to break the news of the Second World War. But, there is a twist. Before breaking the news, Clare was busy with a humanitarian role. Clare Hollingworth was born on the 10th October 1911 in Leicester, England. She had been working as a journalist for under a week when her employer, The Daily Telegraph packed her off to Poland to report on the problems in Europe, at the end of August 1939. Clare Hollingworth Once there, Clare managed to borrow a car as she intended to drive to Germany. Along the German-Polish border, she witnessed numerous German troops, armoured vehicles, and tanks. In her words, she...

I recently watched the film 'First Light' again - I've lost count of how many times that makes now, but it's so beautiful and evocative, and I lose myself in the drama. Some of you will know it's an adaptation of the book, First Light , a personal and frank account of life during the Battle of Britain by author and former WW2 pilot, Geoffrey Wellum DFC. Geoff is now 95 years old, but he remembers his experiences as a Spitfire pilot most vividly. Geoff 'Boy' Wellum 92 Squadron Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Geoff was 18 years nine months when he completed his initial training and arrived fresh and eager at 92 Squadron at Biggin Hill. Nicknamed 'Boy' by his Squadron Leader Brian Kingcombe, he was to have the most harrowing induction into the life of a fighter pilot in RAF Fighter Command. Initially, while he might have felt keen to join in the fight and send the enemy packing, he soon realised just what hell he was embroiled in. Like ...

When WW2 ended, Germany was defeated and divided up. The Soviet Union controlled East Germany while the west was divided up between the US, Britain, and France. Berlin, the capital city, rested within Soviet power but was split into four, with one-half of the city under Soviet control and the rest divided between the other countries. The Allied Control Council was established in Berlin, and this union's mission was now to govern and rebuild Berlin. Unfortunately, nothing involving governments and politics is simple, and soon there were rifts as the Soviet Union disagreed with the other allies over such things as German Unification, Soviet War repatriations, and ideology. The Soviets were vying for more say in the economic future of Germany, something the British and the US would not consent to. It is relevant to indicate Churchill here. Churchill predicted WW2 in the early thirties when no one in parliament would listen. He was right. He also saw what was coming in Europ...

Many people have heard about Douglas Bader, the RAF pilot who miraculously survived an aircraft crash in the 1930s, but sadly lost both of his legs. Bader, through sheer courage, willpower, and true grit returned to flying after the outbreak of WW2. But Bader was not the only double amputee to serve in the war. There was another. Colin Hodgkinson Colin Hodgkinson was born in Wells, Somerset on February 11th 1920 and he joined the Fleet Air Arm for pilot training in 1938. He trained on the aircraft carrier Courageous. Sadly, during training, Colin was involved in a mid-air collision with another Tiger Moth and suffered severe injuries, and like Bader, had to have both legs amputated. He had been flying blind, with a hood over his head during instrument training. The instructor accompanying Colin was killed.  Once he was fit enough, Colin was sent to Roehampton to the limb centre and fitted up for a set of tin legs. He was subsequently invalided out of the for...