The Post-War Dream

As an American novelist trying to write about a war that our school system never touches upon, I knew first-hand accounts was the only way to research an enigma of a war to Americans. My wife, Stephanie, and I flew from America to England and had the pleasure of meeting, face-to-face, the following retired veterans, for the sake of hearing their story to both world build and character develop Fletcher’s personality, behaviors, and emotions. Fletcher’s experience in the war and his subsequent reactions and emotions about the return home were built from each of these veterans’ accounts. I took a common theme in each of their stories, added a pinch of some things they experienced first-hand in combat, and topped it off with how they felt about returning to the fanfare, and I used all that to create a single character who was comprised of bits and pieces of everyone I interviewed. Brigadier Major General Julian Thompson (Royal Marines) and his wife were so gracious to welcome us into his London flat for the afternoon and answered the same questions he has probably been asked umpteen times since the end of the war, including his own writing in his book, No Picnic. No PicnicLieutenant Commander Mark Trasler (Royal Navy), Nursing Sister Paddy Traslar (Royal Navy), and Chief Petty Officer Eric Birbeck (Royal Navy) spent the day giving us a personalized guided tour through Royal Hospital Haslar and its land. After hearing so much about its history-steeped past, we returned to the flat and continued with an evening of Falkland stories. Able Seaman Pete Sefton (Royal Navy) and his wife graced us with their presence for dinner and drinks at a restaurant in a resort, where we spent a lot of valuable and quality time discussing how he endured a fatal tragedy and how he felt the veterans had been treated once returned. Thanks to Band 1 Class 1 Private Dave “Charlie” Brown (Royal Army) for freeing up an afternoon so we could chat over lunch about the harrowing things he saw and experienced in battle. The stories burned a lasting impression in my brain. Colour Sergeant Dave Jackson (Royal Marines) showed us around the city, while opening up to us and admitting some really honest emotions and reactions to the war, and then getting “pissed” with us in a pub later that night. (Dave was one of the stars of the play, Minefield. See below for further information.) MinefieldSergeant Mark Gibbs (Royal Marines) made time in the early morning for breakfast and to share the climate of the veteran’s mindset now, decades after the war, and the lack of services available. In between these face-to-face meetings, Stephanie and I filled our downtime by visiting specific places that directly related to the Falklands and places I knew I wanted to be the setting for most of my scenes. For fictional world-building and real-life research purposes, we visited the cenotaph in London, Berth 106 at the Port of Southampton, Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, the Falklands War Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and the following locations in Cambridge: The Eagle Pub, St Bene’t’s Church, Lion Yard Shopping Centre, the River Cam, and Grantchester Meadows. Some businesses (food/shopping) in the novel are fictional; however, they are based upon real locations we visited during our trip. I communicated extensively over a three-year period via messages and emails with Royal Marine Kenny Morrison, who shared his horrific story in combat, along with countless numbers of photographs from his time in the Falklands and the return to England. Kenny was my go-to when I had a question about the smaller details of everyday life at that time for a returning veteran. Chief Technician Steve Hitchman (Royal Air Force) took time out of his evening to spend an hour-long conversation with me over the phone, where he graciously gave me some insight to the mindset of going there. Besides interviewing the above veterans and visiting the listed locations, I read thousands of pages of books of autobiographies, biographies, and strategic recounts of the war, alongside watching dozens of hours of movies (fiction and non-fiction) and documentaries. An extended thanks to Lucila Piffer & Lola Arias, who created a play called Minefield that only ran in England, starring both British veterans and Argentinian veterans of the Falklands War, re-enacting battle scenes they had actually been a part of themselves. Because there was no way for me to see the play in America, they gave me special VIP access to a filmed performance to watch from the comfort of my home via a stream. MinefieldThis book is heavily inspired by and loosely based on Pink Floyd’s concept album, The Final Cut, which splits its narrative between the schoolteacher from The Wall who fought in WW2 and a young man who has returned from the Falklands, both characters dealing with the same difficulty of reintegration into society and the failure of the post-war dream. Originally, this book was going to be a bonafide novelization/adaptation of The Final Cut, but that all changed when Stephanie and I flew ‘across the pond’ to meet and spend time with all these amazing people. I realized so much more laid beyond the story of Pink Floyd’s lyrics; however, the album still summarized and framed their stories with brutal accuracy. My goal was to merge the narrative of the album, keeping with the basis of rock-fiction novelizations, and merge it with all the true stories I had been exposed to. The Final CutThe Wall The Final CutI wrote this novel with the utmost respect for every servicemember who fought in the Falklands, regardless of rank or branch, as well as their families and friends and ‘oppos’ back home. While this novel is supposed to be for entertainment purposes, my hopes are that it sheds more light on the lack of services for the veterans who are struggling mentally and emotionally from the war.