Introducing In the Face of the Foe
In 2021, I published the first adventure involving the everyman, Richard ‘Jock’ Mitchell, a lance corporal in the Royal West Kent Regiment, captured in France in May, 1940, and held prisoner by the Nazis in far-away Poland for the remainder of the war. At just over 30K words, Triumphant Where It Dares Defy, was a writer’s distraction; a step away from the intense business of completing my first novel, Liberty Bound, and awaiting the energy and determination to write its sequel. It was a pleasing exercise, drawing out some strong characters and creating a new twist on the POW drama. It also left some unresolved issues and an invitation to pen further adventures for Jock.
Having completed my second novel, the sequel Where Liberty Lies, it seemed fitting to once more turn my attention to Jock, and recharge ahead of a third novel. I took the unusual decision to leap forward four years to 1945 and the end of the war (Triumphant being set in 1941). Historical reality offered a perfect framework for a tale to slot Jock into, with the forced marches across Europe in the harsh winter, and A Place More Dark was born in 2024, stretching to over 40K words. Both stories offered me a chance to explore the challenges of life as a POW, recognising the bravery and endurance of those who didn’t escape at Dunkirk, and weave in some fanciful adventures.
The plan was then, of course, to complete my trilogy of novels, but life doesn’t always go to plan. Jock had survived the war but his story was not yet complete. The threads of Triumphant remained hanging and that played on my mind. What was another 40K words to tie things up in a blink? There was also this misconception that just because World War Two had ended, the returning prisoners had found their peace. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, though unheard of in the 1940s, still existed and while it’s impossible to estimate how many soldiers and civilians suffered as a consequence of their experiences, it is hard not to believe a fair percentage did, their behaviours perhaps hidden behind closed doors and stiff upper-lips. With all this bouncing through my mind, an idea emerged of Jock back home, within the arms of his loving family and garden, but in truth the real Jock had not returned from the horrors of the camp. Demons and ghosts haunted him, guilt weighed down his soul, anger and escape through drink the only way he knew how to express his feelings. An exorcism was required. While no data exists, it is estimated soldiers returning from war are four times more likely to commit suicide than the general population. That was not an option for Jock, but putting himself in danger’s way and inviting death offered an open door for another adventure, and, as is the way with us humans, as one war draws to a close, another opens!
In 1948, the dust and debris of the world war had still to settle: occupying armies were in barracks and guardhouses across Europe, shortages and rations persisted, and a bewildered population settled scores and sought new futures within reordered borders and ruined cities. A new political structure also existed, based around the surviving ideologies of Western democratic capitalism and Eastern autocratic communism (snuffing out any post-war embryonic attempts at democracy and liberty) . The concept of continuing the war after the defeat of Nazism to defeat communism was real, championed by Churchill, as was Stalin’s desire to exploit a Europe on its knees and colour the continent red, as occurred in the east, but Churchill’s defeat in the 1945 General Election, the deterrent from America’s atomic bomb, and the practical reality of a war-weary Europe and world, put paid to such plans. So, instead of an actual war, we got a cold war.
Drawing Jock away from his family and into this chaotic world only makes sense with the psychology outlined in the earlier paragraph. Here is a man who, with good reason, hated the war, wishing only to return to a place beyond memory with his family and garden. Realising that is impossible, a nihilism replaces the idealism, and when government man, Trenton-Harper, turns up with his hare-brained scheme to go behind the Iron Curtain, it suits Jock’s needs, even though he recognises it as foolhardy. What follows is a 50K word adventure, For All the Treasures Buried Far, a journey into danger, but more importantly an introspective journey for Jock. He faces his guilt, views his own disturbed behaviour from a distance, and finds some resolution, if not closure, for those demons and ghosts. It concludes Jock’s adventures and each story both stands alone and links together, painting a picture of one man’s experiences during this tumultuous period. Bringing them into one volume made perfect sense.
I don’t believe the war ever ended for some, but they somehow found the courage to carry on, returning to family life, their jobs and trudging on into old age, finally, taking those scars and memories to the grave. With In the Face of the Foe I hope to have done their memory proud.
Nathaniel M Wrey
In the Face of the Foe will be available in hardback, paperback and eBook via online retailers.