Sister Poppy at the Front
This delightful book, aimed at primary school age children, gently informs and entertains the reader about the nurses of the First World War and how life would have been like for them in France. Sister Poppy at the Front is beautifully illustrated by the artist Mik Richardson and carefully worded by Brenda Gostling.
Brenda and Mik have amalgamated the uniforms of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and the Voluntary Aid Detachment to form the uniform as worn by Sister Poppy who nurses on a ward at No. 33 Casualty Clearing Station.
One gets a childlike feel for the frontline, as well as a true account for how it would have felt to be a nursing sister near to the action. This is told in pages like:
The guns have been booming for several days now. "Our guns talking to theirs", she tells herself. "No difference really: they speak the same language."
She has clearly researched her topic and this shines through her narration to the children. She has drawn from the war diaries of QAs like Kate Luard to gently inform readers of the reality of war, trench life, type of wounds and injuries and casualty evacuation.
The hare in the story was chosen after the GoGoHare project in Norwich for the summer of 2018. This sculpture Trail by Wild in Art, sees a First World War nurse's amalgamated uniform painted on a hare, inspired by Edith Cavell, sponsored by the Independent Financial Advisors Almary Green. This project raises funds for the children, young people and families charity, Break. Parts of the profits of Sister Poppy at the Front will be donated to Break. Fifty hare sculptures can be seen darted around Norwich and a further eighteen are scattered throughout Norfolk. It is the fiftieth anniversary of Break who support vulnerable children, young people and families.
I would recommend Sister Poppy at the Front for every child to read so that the reality of war can be gently told, so that nurses and soldiers sacrifices are never forgotten. This is a book that parents and grandparents should be reading with their cherished child on their knee so that the heroes and heroines of the Great War are remembered by a new generation.
Copies are available from www.brendagostling.co.uk/books/ or from local shops such as at Jarrolds.
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My PTSD assistance dog, Lynne, and I have written a book about how she helps me with my military Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and depression. I talk about my time in the QAs and the coping strategies I now use to be in my best health.
Along the way, I have had help from various military charities, such as Help for Heroes and The Not Forgotten Association and royalties from this book will go to them and other charities like Bravehound, who paired me with my four-legged best friend.
I talk openly about the death of my son by suicide and the help I got from psychotherapy and counselling and grief charities like The Compassionate Friends.
The author, Damien Lewis, said of Lynne:
"A powerful account of what one dog means to one man on his road to recovery. Both heart-warming and life-affirming. Bravo Chris and Lynne. Bravo Bravehound."
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This beautiful QARANC Poppy Pin Badge is available from the Royal British Legion Poppy Shop.
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Former Royal Air Force Regiment Gunner Jason Harper witnesses a foreign jet fly over his Aberdeenshire home. It is spilling a strange yellow smoke. Minutes later, his wife, Pippa, telephones him, shouting that she needs him. They then get cut off. He sets straight out, unprepared for the nightmare that unfolds during his journey. Everyone seems to want to kill him.
Along the way, he pairs up with fellow survivor Imogen. But she enjoys killing the living dead far too much. Will she kill Jason in her blood thirst? Or will she hinder his journey through this zombie filled dystopian landscape to find his pregnant wife?
The Fence is the first in this series of post-apocalyptic military survival thrillers from the torturous mind of former British army nurse, now horror and science fiction novel writer, C.G. Buswell.
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The death of the Brotherhood will be avenged.
RAF gunner Jason Harper and a team of Special Air Service operators are enraged after the death of their brothers by a terrorist drone strike. They fly into south-eastern Yemen on a Black-op mission to gather intelligence and avenge the death of their comrades.
Can they infiltrate the Al-Queda insurgents' camp, stay undetected, and call down their own drone missile strike and get home safely?
Will they all survive to fight another day?
Operation Wrath is a free, fast-paced adventure prequel to the non-stop action The Fence series by military veteran author C.G. Buswell.
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