It was my first visit to the big war cemetery, having walked past and gone into, the smaller cemetery in town. As it turned out, my great uncle happened to be buried there, a fact which had only come to light last week at a family gathering in Oxfordshire. I knew that Aunty Ella’s husband… Read More »
Whenever I heard the word Sarajevo, I’m immediately take back to the Balkan conflict of the 1990’s. At that time Sarajevo suffered a siege of the city of 3.5 years. There was a tunnel dug from the airport which allowed supplies to be fed through to inhabitants. On the bus to Sarajevo, I found myself… Read More »
Last night, the newly formed Shanghai Literacy Society held the launch of several books both dealing with the same subject – Shanghai during the war years. Betty Barr is a long term resident of China and well known amongst the expat population here. She has a very interesting story to tell and this, her latest… Read More »
“Don’t be sad. Aunty Gwen has died” came the message on WeChat from my sister. Actually I wasn’t that sad because as we say in cricketing countries “She had a good innings”. Next week would have been her 104th birthday. She had outlived all her friends, her sister and even my brother, her great nephew.My… Read More »