The war years of 1939 – 1945 were a time when ordinary people did extraordinary things. Some events and experiences are well documented; some told first hand by the people who were there. Many kept their own counsel, choosing, over the years, to disclose only fragments of those times.Descendants become curious to know of their ancestors' past – everyone has a story. Some will remain untold, some pieced together with the help of documents and archives recently released. The more I investigated, the more the snippets told to me by my father, corroborated and expanded upon by others, have fallen into place. I have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible, but this is a work of fiction based on his story, some characters, locations, and incidents have been fictionalized or modified for dramatic purposes. Patricia was born in York, where her father and grandfather were groundsmen at St Peter's School (where Guy Fawkes was educated). As a youngster she moved, with her parents, to Nottinghamshire, within a few miles of Sherwood Forest. She grew up with tales of Robin Hood, often visiting the major oak and playing within the hollow of that ancient tree. Patricia loved writing essays at school but her first foray into something longer was when she was approaching the age of 40 and found a little more time on her hands. A few years later she decided her scribbled imaginings should be put into some sort of order. With the help of a creative writing tutor, she has now published a series of mystery novels, plus a standalone.She has long harboured the wish to record her father's experiences as a Prisoner of War. Collating the snippets recalled by her father together with wide ranging research has been a labour of love.
