VJ80

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Mary276

I’m somewhat belatedly posting about VJ80, the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of WWII. This year I discovered a fantastic local museum called the Military Museum Scotland (MMS), based just outside Edinburgh. It’s run entirely by volunteers and does great work with local veterans as well as being packed with interesting items, indoors and out. There is a dedicated remembrance space for people to reflect and remember their loved ones and a reconstruction of a WWI trench to explore.

For VJ80, MMS hosted a tea party, at which I told Dad’s story to about 50 people, all with connections to the war in the Far East. It was a great occasion and many thanks to founder of MMS, Ian Inglis, for organising the party and inviting me to speak.

On the Sunday I went to a service in Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, where there is a commemorative plaque donated by the Scottish Burma Star Association, with the Kohima epitaph on it. There was a beautiful service, drawing parallels between the horrors of WWII with current conflicts around the world. The choir sang a version of the Kohima epitaph which was very moving.

In a couple of weeks I am guest speaker at the AGM of my local residents group, the Liberton Association. Another opportunity to encourage people to research their family history before it is lost forever! My generation has the “one line legend” as a start point (e.g. Dad fought at Hong Kong, was taken prisoner and escaped across China) but often the generation down doesn’t even have that. Why would you look if you didn’t know there was anything to look for? Too often, history books cover the same old ground, famous battles and such like, but there are many untold stories that shed new light on the world wars and give us powerful examples of courage, compassion, community and resilience.

Copies of my book, Stranger In My Heart are available on Amazon as a paperback or ebook.

Remembrance Day 2023

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Mary276

For Remembrance Day 2023, the Royal British Legion have included in their annual newsletter a four page feature on Dad’s story. They approached me back in the summer, asking if they could highlight his adventures in Hong Kong and China in the Second World War. I provided some images and extracts from Stranger In My Heart and they did the rest. They have titled his story ‘The other Great Escape.’ I’m really pleased with it because the Far East is often neglected in remembrance of WW2 and the Battle of Hong Kong almost never gets a mention.

I was pleased to see that the newsletter also includes stories from Commonwealth veterans, another neglected group in the story of the Second World War. The Royal British Legion is dedicated to supporting service veterans and their families, providing support for those with mental or physical health issues or financial worries.

Everyone who has served has made sacrifices and endured suffering for the benefit of all of us. They don’t all have dramatic stories like Dad’s, many suffered as PoWs or have served in supporting roles, but they all did their bit. Let us remember them and show our gratitude. And this year, the poppy is entirely plastic free!

New Edition

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Mary276

Stranger In My Heart was published by Unbound in 2018. The rights have now reverted to me and I have created a new edition of the book. Unbound ran out of copies and I only have a few original, author signed copies left to offer (see sidebar for details). The new edition is available as an ebook or paperback on Amazon.

I corrected a few mistakes from the old edition and created a new cover, based on a photograph that I took in Yunnan in 2015. For me it represents the bridge between generations, spanning time and space and connecting the people at each end. The building in the middle is the meeting place, where we can learn about each other and build our relationship. Red is the colour of luck, joy and celebration in Chinese culture, so I wanted to include that in the design.

The content is as it was before, but I wanted to ensure that the book remains available, even if distribution is limited to Amazon. I have learned a lot about how to format a document for ebook and paperback! It is quite fiddly and extremely time consuming, but Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP, Amazon’s publishing arm) provides helpful explanations of how to do it all.

In October the Royal British Legion will be sending a newsletter out to all their supporters, in preparation for Remembrance Day. It will include Dad’s story, which is quite an honour. I hope some of the readers will find their way to this website to learn a bit more about Dad. He was a lifelong member of RBL and I think he would be pleased to see his story reach an audience of his peers.

Happy Birthday!

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Mary276

Stranger In My Heart is 4 years old today and not looking too shabby! Happy birthday too to Dad, who would be 108 today. Get your hands on a copy of the paperback for a special birthday price of £9.99 including UK postage and packing. Offer ends soon! Click on the button on the right of this page to order.

Since the last anniversary my mother has passed away, the last of that generation in my wider family. What I notice is the shift in my status from a younger person with living parents to a member of the older generation. I suppose I could have detected that from the wrinkles and grey hairs but it needed my mother’s death to confirm it! I carry forward her common sense, community spirit, hospitality and some skills in the kitchen, garden and with a sewing machine.

I wonder how we will all feel when Her Majesty the Queen passes on? She has been a constant in all our lives and I don’t think we quite realise how much of a loss it will be when she goes. She’s such a symbol of steadfast continuity as well as being a beacon of integrity, diligence, fortitude and grace. In a tumultuous period of change and chaos we rest on those few things that are constant in our lives and they give us strength. It was also wonderful to experience the sense of unity generated by the platinum jubilee, after the last few years of almost tribal division in the UK. We can carry forward these values in our hearts as we face the challenges to come.

I hope Stranger In My Heart has resonance for people today, giving readers an insight into how the wartime generation coped with threat and uncertainty. I feel that unity was a big part of that, along with resilience, resourcefulness and a strong sense of purpose. More values that we can benefit from today, when it is easy to feel overwhelmed and anxious about the future.

This post has ended up being more about death than birth, but that’s the cycle of life!

Cooper Connection

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Mary276

I recently visited the Modern Art gallery in Edinburgh to see the Ray Harryhausen exhibition. He was an animator and creator of special effects for films such as One Million Years BC and Jason and the Argonauts. It turns out that he was inspired by the film King Kong (1933) made by Merian Cooper. You may remember that Cooper features in Stranger In My Heart, as during the Second World War he was made Chief of Staff to Gen. Claire Chennault of the USAF in China.

Cooper was a forward thinker and supported Chennault in creating a plan to defeat the Japanese using air power. Part of this plan involved retaking Hong Kong and thereby liberating the PoWs there, which was Dad’s ambition. Dad realised that rescuing troops unfit to fight would not be a strategic priority but, as part of a wider plan with the support of the Americans, it might have worked. Dad and Cooper had several meetings to build the plan in November 1942 and it was presented to the Heads of Government at the Washington Conference in May 1943. Although the plan was approved it never achieved the necessary resources to deliver it and the PoWs continued to suffer till the end of the war.

Post-war, Cooper made many films with his directing partner, John Ford, including Mighty Joe Young (1949) with Ray Harryhausen’s animated special effects.

advertising poster for Mighty Joe Young (1949)

It was interesting to see Harryhausen’s work and to discover the connection with Merian Cooper. There were some amazing models featured in the exhibition, see below. It’s on till Feb 2022 so if you’re in Edinburgh, go and see it!

Birthday Gift

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Mary276

9 June is the birthday of Stranger In My Heart (2018) and Dad (1914). I’m offering a birthday gift of a signed, dedicated copy of the Stranger In My Heart paperback for the special discounted price of £9.99 including UK postage. You also get a free SIMH bookmark with each copy. Limited period only, order via the Paypal link in the sidebar and message me via the Contact page if you want a dedication for anyone other than the purchaser.

Military historian Kwong Chi Man sent me this picture of Dad via Twitter. He found it in the WWII Veteran Association Clubhouse in Hong Kong. Dad looks very young and the photo was taken at the “Vienna Studio Bombay” so I am guessing it was taken on his way out to HK in 1937, when he was a young Second Lieutenant on his first posting.

John Monro MC RA, probably taken 1937, Vienna Studio Bombay

The book has been an interesting way of connecting with all sorts of people – distant relations, families of men mentioned in Dad’s account of the battle of Hong Kong and his escape, military historians and the many veterans’ families who share a connection to the Pacific War. I hope the book contributes to a more complete history of the Second World War, along with the many other stories that families are now able to discover for themselves about their ancestors. It’s not all about the big battles and the strategic moves – it’s a human history of bravery, resilience and suffering. We shall remember them.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Mary276

Stranger In My Heart was born on 9th June 2018, so it is the book’s 2nd birthday today (and Dad’s 106th)! I have learned a lot about book marketing over the last two and a half years, not least that it is time consuming and requires constant attention to Twitter, Facebook and the rest. I did my best and I really enjoyed the launch party and the various events that I spoke at. Thankyou to everyone who helped along the way, with support, encouragement, book buying, review writing, tea, cake and general loveliness. Sales naturally slow down after a while, especially when events that might have been useful in promoting the book have all been cancelled…

I was supposed to speak at a conference in June, commemorating the 75th anniversary of VJ day (VJ75). I was looking forward to talking about Dad’s efforts to liberate the PoWs he’d left behind in Hong Kong, and meeting veterans and their families. The conference is rescheduled for next year so I hope to speak then. VJ75 is a major milestone, conference or no, but it is very much the poor relation compared to the attention paid to VE day. Perhaps by August 15 we will be able to get together to mark VJ75, sort of in lieu of the celebrations that were supposed to be held on VE75. If so, that might raise awareness in the wider population of the war in the Far East. Every cloud…

I am thoroughly fed up with lockdown now. All my favourite events have been cancelled and everything that was in the diary between now and the year end has gradually been deleted. I have enjoyed the opportunity to get on with writing my book about my great aunt, and we are loving exploring Edinburgh, but I miss seeing people and going places and eating out and holidays. I know I am immensely privileged to have a happy home, good health, reliable internet and enough money to keep me going and I do count my blessings. But, well, you know. Stay safe and well and we’ll meet again…

Stranger News

Posted on June 1, 2019 by Mary276

It is almost a year since Stranger In My Heart was launched. I have recently received my royalty statement from Unbound which said that, in the 9 months from June 2018 to March 2019 I sold about 1,000 copies, half e-book and half paperback edition. I’m told that I should be pleased about this, even if it seems small reward for the blood, sweat and tears that went into the project! It also means that I have over £800 to donate to the Riding for the Disabled Association. I am figuring out how to donate it for maximum impact and will keep you posted.

The TV company that are making a documentary series to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of WW2 have told me that they won’t be filming me after all, but it will still be great to have the Hong Kong story told on prime time TV. The show will air in the autumn and they have said they’ll tell me when it is on.

Next week I have the first of several talks to Women’s Institutes in Wiltshire. As it is a lovely sunny day I thought I’d go and sit in the garden and read my book! As in read MY book. I’ve become so focused on my work in progress that I’ve forgotten the details of Stranger In My Heart and I don’t want to look an idiot by not being able to answer questions about it!

I just heard from the Commanding Officer of 19RA, the Regiment that Dad commanded in the 1950s. They have a scrapbook detailing what they were doing throughout his Command, including their activities in Korea and Hong Kong. I am going to go over to Larkhill in a few weeks to have a look at it. It will fill in an annoying gap in my knowledge of his army career. Here he is in front of his troops in Korea. It says it’s the Queen’s Birthday Parade, but 9th June is also Dad’s birthday.

19RA, Korea 1955 — Dad in Korea with 19RA, 1955

Wiltshire News

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Mary276

Stranger In My Heart was in the news again last week, this time in the Wiltshire Times. Since I added a media kit to the website the level of accuracy in news reports has definitely increased! If only I had a background in marketing I would probably do these things automatically. Sigh.

I am now booked to speak to three Wiltshire WIs in June and July, following my slightly terrifying audition back in November. I am sure it will be much more fun when I have longer to speak and there is a more cosy atmosphere. Other than these speaking engagements I am winding down the promotional activities a bit to devote more time to my next book.

This one will be about my great aunt Dora, who earned her mathematics degree aged nineteen in 1911, set up her own business selling calculating machines aged 24 and built a computing business that supplied the bombe machines to the Bletchley Park codebreakers and created one of the world’s first electronic computers. It’s going to be quite feminist!

Shrewsbury Lit Fest

Posted on November 27, 2018 by Mary276

I had a great weekend at the Shrewsbury Lit Fest. The organisers had done a good job on the publicity front, with articles in the Shropshire Star and the Shropshire Magazine. The smart brochure for the festival had me on the same page as Manda Scott, one of my favourite writers, which I felt very excited about! We went to her event and she turned out to be every bit as interesting in person as she is in writing. Both of our events were at the Unitarian Church, where Charles Darwin was a regular worshipper.

I enjoyed talking about Stranger In My Heart, especially as many in the audience were people who’d known Dad. It really strikes a chord with people when I speak about the ‘one sentence legend’ that we have about a parent or grandparent and what they did in the war. The silence of World War participants, especially combatants, seems almost universal. People recognise that the next generation down don’t even have the ‘one sentence legend’ and so will have no reason to enquire into the lives of individuals from the World War generations. My campaign to rescue these stories before they get lost forever is gathering pace as I am now an approved speaker for the WI, following my audition last week. I already have two bookings for next year!

Of course the best thing about the weekend was visiting family and catching up with old friends who’d come to the Festival. Sadly, my mum is no longer able to go to events but I showed her the various press articles about it. In the town Square there was a Peoples Vote stall, with an Emergency Poet in attendance. Love it!

Stranger In My Heart

A daughter's quest to discover her father

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