Books published by Carole McT Books

 Paul Chapman

The grandson of a survivor of the First World War; one who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force on the Western Front throughout. A man who seeing it to be his duty to care for the graves of those who died, immediately after being demobilised, was one of the first to join the Imperial War Graves Commission. A man who had seen it all, witnessed the carnage and the horror. A gentle, caring and kindly man who was, whilst scarred psychologically, unlike so many who returned from the war, quite willing to talk about his experiences, share his memories with his grandson. Very much influenced by his grandfather’s stories, so the author’s interest began; from him and his grandmother – born and raised in the Belgian town of Poperinghe – he was raised on tales of life in the First World War both in the trenches and behind the lines. Always keenly interested, in later life, as the ability to travel afforded, so began over thirty years’ experience of walking the fields, roads, and tracks of the Ypres salient building up a knowledge of the region very few can match. As a freelance guide, the author has a reputation for being one who is capable of drawing on a wealth of personally compiled and meticulously researched details relative to individual casualties that is literally second to none. And, well-known throughout the locality, his professional manner of delivery, sense of propriety, humour and easy going personality have earned him well-deserved acknowledgement and recognition.

 

        In Memory & In Mourning Ypres Salient Cemeteries Series

The concept of the series of books – ‘In Memory & In Mourning: Ypres Salient Cemeteries’ – is to provide not only the visitor to a particular cemetery, or memorial – all within the confines of the region are included – with information never previously available; there is equal interest for the student, the historian and general reader. Details, extended accounts, stories, anecdotes that enable the individual to identify with the casualty on a personal level. Often a coincidental aside will add another dimension which, when put into perspective asks – If it were related on site – Would it make a difference to the visit, enhance it? Add a dimension without which the visit would otherwise be no more than just another visit to another site; the overall related without mention of the individual personal? Therein lies the purpose, and intent.

The accounts compiled cover not only virtually every manner by which these men died; they record personal details of who they were, where they came from, occupations, etc. Stories of political, artistic, literary, historical, famous and infamous connections: Death in all forms grotesque, macabre, unbelievable, surreal – Blown apart, decapitated, multiple mortal wounds, shot through the head, throat, heart, killed accidentally, dragged along a road by a runaway mule, shot by a comrade cleaning a rifle, disarming a grenade, burnt to death in a house fire, run over by a lorry, drowned, hit by falling debris, impaled by a fence; train derailments, disease, frozen, suicides, heart attacks, executions including that of a fourteen year old, men who after their death were reported unknown by those who they had designated next-of-kin, underage and over, burials and exhumations: The list is endless. The result of over thirty years research and dedication: Unique – None of them have ever been previously published. There are 10 volumes. For more information please click here.

Jules Davies

Jules worked in motor racing, and on trade and technical magazines before training as an interior designer, but now spends more time writing, painting and gardening when she’s not making soaps and creams or investigating alternative remedies.

Emeralds in the Dark is Jules’ first novel but she is already working on other projects including a series for children. Watch this space for more details.

Lt Colonel Julian Crowe OBE

The author joined the British Army on an Army Scholarship and was selected for training at RMA Sandhurst, joining below the minimum age.  His first posting after RMA Sandhurst was an operational tour with 2^nd Bn Scots Guards in Belfast at the age of eighteen.  He subsequently served as Signal Officer, Exchange Officer with 3^rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment and was an instructor at the Signal Wing School of Infantry. He then served as a young Company Commander in Cyprus.  After attending Staff College and a tour as Company Commander with 1^st Battalion Scots Guards, he served as the primary staff officer in Berlin from 1989.  His responsibilities included East-West access issues and the wind down of the British Sector following the fall of the Berlin Wall and German Unification. He then moved to Edinburgh and organised the Scots Guards 350^th Anniversary Celebrations. He was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in 1995 into the post of Brigade Major Household Division with responsibility for all State Ceremonial in London.  He was awarded the OBE in 1999, following his appointment as Commandant MCTC and Governor HMYOI Colchester, a trial to determine whether the military approach to custody could reduce the re-offending rate in a selected group of civilian young offenders. Latterly he spent 3 years at the Regular Commissions Board and was one of the Board members responsible for the selection of Prince Harry to be an Army officer.  He then served as KFOR Liaison Officer to the Kosovo Protection Corps, shortly before the Commander’s elevation to Prime Minister of Kosovo and he continued to deal closely with the Prime Minister and his new Commander as they prepared for transition towards the independence of Kosovo.

 

Kevin Trott

I was born in 1951 in Romford, which then was a small market town in the county of Essex (we still had a weekly cattle market until 1958!); for our sins, we have now been well-and-truly absorbed into the mêlée that is ‘Greater’ London. My father was a merchant seaman on the Atlantic convoys during WW2 and I grew up hearing adults speaking about the war and the effect it had had, particularly on our family, but also on practically every family in the land. I developed an interest in history, particularly military history, and especially that of the WW2 era. I tried the Merchant Navy myself for a few trips. I saw the world but I chose not to make it my life-long career – unlike my father who spent most of his working life at sea. I was a ‘jack-of-all- trades’ but mostly earned my living driving HGV trucks. I like to read and I always had an ambition to write. I’ve had a few articles published, mainly in Nautical Magazine, about ships and the merchant shipping industry, but this is my first attempt at a full-length book – (better late than never, so they say!) Now retired, I still live in Romford with my wife; we have two adult children. We’ve been very fortunate and have been able to do a fair amount of travelling around the world but now we’re happy to holiday in good old England – North Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight being our favourite locations.