I was born in Hertfordshire in 1967, the youngest of three boys. After schooling at Heath Mount and Haileybury I began work in 1985 as a journalist on business magazines, moving into the world of PR and advertising in 1991.
I am today a Director and co-owner of Gravity London, responsible for its media relations and content generation business. We are a full service agency working with major brands such as Thales in the military and defence space, and Investec in financial services. My own role is in media relations, dealing with the press on some interesting briefs that include being the official spokesman for the UK debt collection industry!
I began writing books in 1999, having decided to research the life of a Great Uncle, Flight Sergeant Peter Noble, shot down and killed in December 1944. This led to the privately published ‘Flying Through Fire’. Among those to help me with my research was a former Special Duties Operator with 101 Squadron, Ted Manners, who happened to be my father’s former boss and mentor. I was privileged to be able to tell Ted’s story and the story of his crew in my first book available to a wider audience, Carried on the Wind(Woodfield).
Carried on the Wind gave me the appetite to write more. At a 101 Squadron reunion I met Les Owen, whose brother George had served with 101 before moving to 582 Squadron Pathfinder Force. George had been killed in a raid towards the end of the war on the Cologne/Gremberg marshalling yards in which Bob Palmer won the Victoria Cross. I was amazed that the story of this raid had not previously been told, and so my second book, Heroic Endeavour was born.
With Heroic Endeavour I had a real stroke of luck. I pitched the idea to John Davies at Grub Street and he went for it. It was the start of what has to date been a most successful – and enjoyable – relationship.
From my interviews with veterans, many had exciting stories to tell above and beyond the Cologne/Gremberg raid and it seemed a pity to have all that material and not make good use of it. My research for Heroic Endeavour therefore led directly to Master Bombers, the story of a Pathfinder Squadron at War. This is one of my favourite books and has proven so popular that it went from hardback to Paperback soon after.
Master Bombers weaves the war diary of 582 Squadron with individual chapters on particular aircrew. One of those chapters was about Flight Lieutenant Ted Stocker, the only ever flight engineer to be awarded the DSO for an incredible 108 trips in heavy bombers. Ted’s story was so spectacular that I felt it was deserving of its own book, and so I collaborated with Ted in a joint venture - A Pathfinder’s War - which traces Ted’s career from his days as a ‘Brat’ through to his role introducing the ‘Neptune’ into RAF service, having traded in his flight engineer’s brevet for a pilot’s wings.
I am always delighted to hear from readers of my books, and was especially delighted to discover that one such reader was Air Commodore John Mitchell LVO, DFC, AFC. His son lives in the same village as me, and so I was able to meet with John and discuss his story. And what a story! Any man who survived a tour in Bomber Command in 1940/1941 deserves respect. When you add to that his tour as Churchill’s navigator in his personal aircraft, ‘Ascalon’, and throw in some experimental flying across the Pole and you have an author’s dream. It was a true honour to collaborate with him on Churchill’s Navigator, and the launch at Chartwell is a day I shall never forget.
In writing my books, I receive help and support from a good many people – fellow enthusiasts and authors alike. I was pleased to be asked by Steve Darlow (author of Lancaster Down, Five of the Few et al) to help with the writing of a project of his making – Bomber Command: Failed to return. It was such a wonderfully simple concept that it deserved the success it received. I contributed two chapters, both – not surprisingly, about Pathfinder aircrew.
2012 was especially busy with three projects completed: A Pathfinder Companion; Bomber Command Failed to Return II; and the official title for the Bomber Command Memorial. The first was a collaboration with the Pathfinder Museum and RAF Wyton and had been many years in the making. I hope it will become the authoritative guide for anyone wanting to know more about Pathfinder Force. The second was another title with Steve Darlow, where I was given the opportunity of featuring my Great Uncle as one of the chapters, and give him the public acknowledgment he so richly deserved. Of the third, I have written various chapters, providing the historical context to the achievements of the men of Bomber Command. It was officially launched on December 16.
2013 was no less busy with the launch of Dambusters: Failed to Return in May to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Dams raid, and a biography of The Last of the 39-ers, Squadron Leader Alfie Fripp. The books were published by Fighting High and Grub Street respectively.
In 2014, to coincide with the D-Day Celebrations, Fighting High published another in its Failed to Returnseries with stories of the men and aircraft that had been lost in preparing for the invasion of Europe. In 2015 I completed two books - An Alien Sky and Thunder Bird in Bomber Command, both published in the Spring. I also collaborated on yet another Fighting High title: V-Weapons: Failed to Return.
This year (2017) promises to be a particularly exciting year with three new books, including my first with a new Publisher, Pen & Sword. I will keep you posted.
I am today a Director and co-owner of Gravity London, responsible for its media relations and content generation business. We are a full service agency working with major brands such as Thales in the military and defence space, and Investec in financial services. My own role is in media relations, dealing with the press on some interesting briefs that include being the official spokesman for the UK debt collection industry!
I began writing books in 1999, having decided to research the life of a Great Uncle, Flight Sergeant Peter Noble, shot down and killed in December 1944. This led to the privately published ‘Flying Through Fire’. Among those to help me with my research was a former Special Duties Operator with 101 Squadron, Ted Manners, who happened to be my father’s former boss and mentor. I was privileged to be able to tell Ted’s story and the story of his crew in my first book available to a wider audience, Carried on the Wind(Woodfield).
Carried on the Wind gave me the appetite to write more. At a 101 Squadron reunion I met Les Owen, whose brother George had served with 101 before moving to 582 Squadron Pathfinder Force. George had been killed in a raid towards the end of the war on the Cologne/Gremberg marshalling yards in which Bob Palmer won the Victoria Cross. I was amazed that the story of this raid had not previously been told, and so my second book, Heroic Endeavour was born.
With Heroic Endeavour I had a real stroke of luck. I pitched the idea to John Davies at Grub Street and he went for it. It was the start of what has to date been a most successful – and enjoyable – relationship.
From my interviews with veterans, many had exciting stories to tell above and beyond the Cologne/Gremberg raid and it seemed a pity to have all that material and not make good use of it. My research for Heroic Endeavour therefore led directly to Master Bombers, the story of a Pathfinder Squadron at War. This is one of my favourite books and has proven so popular that it went from hardback to Paperback soon after.
Master Bombers weaves the war diary of 582 Squadron with individual chapters on particular aircrew. One of those chapters was about Flight Lieutenant Ted Stocker, the only ever flight engineer to be awarded the DSO for an incredible 108 trips in heavy bombers. Ted’s story was so spectacular that I felt it was deserving of its own book, and so I collaborated with Ted in a joint venture - A Pathfinder’s War - which traces Ted’s career from his days as a ‘Brat’ through to his role introducing the ‘Neptune’ into RAF service, having traded in his flight engineer’s brevet for a pilot’s wings.
I am always delighted to hear from readers of my books, and was especially delighted to discover that one such reader was Air Commodore John Mitchell LVO, DFC, AFC. His son lives in the same village as me, and so I was able to meet with John and discuss his story. And what a story! Any man who survived a tour in Bomber Command in 1940/1941 deserves respect. When you add to that his tour as Churchill’s navigator in his personal aircraft, ‘Ascalon’, and throw in some experimental flying across the Pole and you have an author’s dream. It was a true honour to collaborate with him on Churchill’s Navigator, and the launch at Chartwell is a day I shall never forget.
In writing my books, I receive help and support from a good many people – fellow enthusiasts and authors alike. I was pleased to be asked by Steve Darlow (author of Lancaster Down, Five of the Few et al) to help with the writing of a project of his making – Bomber Command: Failed to return. It was such a wonderfully simple concept that it deserved the success it received. I contributed two chapters, both – not surprisingly, about Pathfinder aircrew.
2012 was especially busy with three projects completed: A Pathfinder Companion; Bomber Command Failed to Return II; and the official title for the Bomber Command Memorial. The first was a collaboration with the Pathfinder Museum and RAF Wyton and had been many years in the making. I hope it will become the authoritative guide for anyone wanting to know more about Pathfinder Force. The second was another title with Steve Darlow, where I was given the opportunity of featuring my Great Uncle as one of the chapters, and give him the public acknowledgment he so richly deserved. Of the third, I have written various chapters, providing the historical context to the achievements of the men of Bomber Command. It was officially launched on December 16.
2013 was no less busy with the launch of Dambusters: Failed to Return in May to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Dams raid, and a biography of The Last of the 39-ers, Squadron Leader Alfie Fripp. The books were published by Fighting High and Grub Street respectively.
In 2014, to coincide with the D-Day Celebrations, Fighting High published another in its Failed to Returnseries with stories of the men and aircraft that had been lost in preparing for the invasion of Europe. In 2015 I completed two books - An Alien Sky and Thunder Bird in Bomber Command, both published in the Spring. I also collaborated on yet another Fighting High title: V-Weapons: Failed to Return.
This year (2017) promises to be a particularly exciting year with three new books, including my first with a new Publisher, Pen & Sword. I will keep you posted.
