In these memoirs of his early life and wartime RAF service William (Bill) Dives takes us back in time into two different worlds, both now so far away. Pre-war colonial life in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the perilous existance of a Lancaster pilot during the second world war.
Bill's father held a post as Native Commissioner in the north west of the country. It was in the remote bush, or "bundu", country that Bill was born and from where he and his elder sister were taken by their parents on working safaris hence the "Bundu Boy" in the title. Sadly their father died from cancer while the children were young. Their mother moved to Salisbury to find work.
The carefree, pre-war colonial life of a schoolboy in Southern Rhodesia was brought to an abrupt end as the sirens of war in the Northern Hemisphere summoned the scattered youth around the world to come to the aid of the mother country.
In the spring of 1942 at the age of 18 he was accepted into the RAF in Rhodesia for pilot training. In June 1943, having qualified as a fighter pilot and given the rank of Sgt./Pilot, along with many other Rhodesians that had enlisted with him, he was posted to England. On arrival he was put on a conversion course for multi-engined aircraft. During training he selected his six-man crew and on completion, now a Pilot Officer, was posted to No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron partially manned by fellow Rhodesians. From August 1944 to March 1945 Bill and his crew complete thirty-six missions. Following the regular thirty they volunteered for the extra six! Drawing on details from his wartime log books he takes us through these missions that range from the French coast to the Baltic sea and deep into the industrial heartland of Germany. The targets were many and varied including airfields; factories; communication centres; marshalling yards; canals; troop concentration areas and among others included the hazardous exercise of mine laying off the German and Norwegian coasts. After the euphoria of a successful raid would come the fear for the next operation where once again they would be called upon to face a terrifying mixture of flak; night fighters and the inevitable collisions that occurred when hundreds of aircraft were being directed on to the same target area by night. For those with a mathematical turn of mind the odds of survival were frighteningly small. Bill's final mission (the 36th) was a 1000 bomber raid on Essen on the 12th of March 1945 this was a few weeks before his 21st birthday. He had brought home his crew safely home for the last time. Returning to Rhodesia thoughts of those close friends who would never return cast a heavy cloud over what should have been such an exhilarating occasion. There would inevitably be a period of readjustment- but first of all he must learn to drive a motor car!

It has been given to few people to have the privilege of working for 25 years in such a large variety of Britain's stately homes. For that person then to get to know well so many members of the aristocracy whilst surrounded by a galaxy of the finest antiques is unique. Robert Soper, and his wife Stephanie, fell upon the opportunity of revamping the antiques trade as it was then, at the same time being instrumental in dragging the reluctant aristocracy into the real world of commerce, using their most important assets - their estates - to generate real money for once. Far from it being an easy ride, soon after they began they encountered severe and hostile opposition resulting into a diversification that generated some of Britain's biggest shows under canvas. How they franchised the business is discussed with the stories of their biggest triumphs and worst disasters given equal prominence. Part two is a series of anecdotes and amusing happenings when ordinary people mix with the great and the good including how the author had to gently evict Lord Spencer, Princess Diana's father, out of one stately home, ghosts we encountered and what happens when you get the advertising wrong. Part three is a personal view of Fakes and Forgeries circulating through both industries, the minefield of authenticating antiques, the hidden stately homes, how much your antiques may be actually worth right through to how the 'ring' works at auctions. A fascinating insight into two mysterious worlds. The book is well illustrated and has a foreword written by the good friend of the author, The Duke of Richmond in whose home, Goodwood House, he spent over one whole year during the period.

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This is the story of the last voyage of a ubiquitous British Tramp Ship trading in the North Pacific during the early sixties, when the sun began to set on the British Merchant Navy. The voyage described by the ship's Chief Officer took place over forty years ago. Hence the episodes and facts referred to are constrained by the parameters of one's memory of the time.

This book in essence is a personal search for family history, and a record of the same.

In 1485, William Gilpin was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field whilst fighting alongside his king, Richard III.

The search also unearthed some other interesting facts, such as the loss of Kentmere Hall by the Gilpin family as a consequence of their involvement in the English Civil War in the seventeenth century, and a possible association with Ireland as a direct result.

At the same time the imprisonment of Captain Thomas Gilpin of Warborough for his refusal to continue fighting in Cromwell's army after becoming a Quaker.

The son of the above Thomas, Joseph Gilpin, and his wife Hannah, left England for a new life in America sometime after the Civil War. One of Joseph and Hannah's descendants was an aid to George Washington. And there is a connection between the Gilpin and the Washington families with the marriage of a William Gilpin and Elizabeth Washington.

There is also recorded an interesting encounter between one of Joseph and Hannah's descendants and Abraham Lincoln.

My search also unearthed a family secret, the murder by poisoning of my own great-grandfather, James Gilpin.

To add a little local interest, three legends associated with the Kentmere Valley have been added, including the story of the Kentmere Giant. Along with some more general history associated with the search.

What is Stonehenge?

Why was it built? Who designed it?
How did they move the stones?
These questions have been asked for centuries -
but what if you could know the answers ...

Join me on a journey that goes back in time and see how our ancestors worked together in unity and spirituality to create this wonderful Monument. It was for a reason; it was structural and had a purpose. You will see that Stonehenge is more important than anyone ever thought possible.

A testament to our ancestors' incredible ability.

The "Wanderings and Homecoming" of Odysseus is a true adventure legend which took place some 3200 years ago, mostly in the North Atlantic.

About 700 years after the event, the legend was used by the Greek Homer to create a whole new heroic and patriarchal past for the Greek people. He removed many important details pertaining to the Goddess society and religion and added many unrelated stories and fabrications to make it sound as if the Odyssey took place in the Mediterranean. He did everything possible to destroy the memory of the pre-patriarchal society.

In Odysseus and the Sea Peoples readers will learn where Odyseys did go, complete with archaeological, legendary and linguistic evidence. This suggests that Odysseus was no Greek at all. Instead, he was the Hebridian leader of the war fleet assembled by the peoples of the "Islands of the Great Green Sea" as the Egyptians called the Atlantic. The disastrous results of their attack on Egypt are documented.

The second part of the book describes the society, religion, blood characteristics and migrations of the two main Sea Peoples and how they mixed to become us.

Joe Arrived Dead is a well researched and intuitive study into the origins of a Yorkshire coal town and the people involved in its inception. It details subsequent events with particular reference to the effects on the communities of Hemsworth and Kinsley and the reactions of named local inhabitants.

Sufficient detail on subjects such as tthe "Board of Guardians", "the Yorkshire Miners Association" and the 'new' "Independant Labour Party" has been given to maintain relevance and perspective, but it is the author's obvious clear and overwhelming intention to place emphasis on the normally forgotten heroes rather than on the often reported few that makes Joe Arrived Dead so refreshing.

Wirtten with energy and humour, the obvious empathy the author has for those he is writing about is apparent throughout; he is convincing in his contention that we can and should all learn from events such as these.

The work will clearly be of great interest not only to local historians and descendants of inhabitants who kindly provided photographs and other materials for inclusion, but to those from geographically distant mining areas and those experienceing struggles in unrelated areas who have witnessed, endured, or been brought up on similar stories of the working man's indomitability against all odds.

The story of the Jacobite struggle to return the Stewart monarchy and keep Scotland as an independent nation and the battles of Charles Edward Stewart. The aftermath of Culloden and those who took part. Also the present Stewart heir.

This is a story of the River Thames, its working people, and the Port of London in the early 18th Century. It is the story of the origin of a famous rowing race held on the river. 'Doggett's Coat and Badge', now the oldest continually held annual event in the sporting calendar, and simply called The Coat by the watermen of today. It is told through the eyes of Edwin, the unknown young wherryman on whom Doggett supposedly based his race. It is the tale of the life-style of the rivermen and the citizenry of London in those harsh and brutal times. Although fiction, the book is based on facts gleaned from a study of the records of the City and the trading Guilds of London.

Joe Arrived Dead is a well researched and intuitive study into the origins of a Yorkshire coal town and the people involved in its inception. It details subsequent events with particular reference to the effects on the communities of Hemsworth and Kinsley and the reactions of named local inhabitants.

Sufficient detail on subjects such as tthe "Board of Guardians", "the Yorkshire Miners Association" and the 'new' "Independant Labour Party" has been given to maintain relevance and perspective, but it is the author's obvious clear and overwhelming intention to place emphasis on the normally forgotten heroes rather than on the often reported few that makes Joe Arrived Dead so refreshing.

Wirtten with energy and humour, the obvious empathy the author has for those he is writing about is apparent throughout; he is convincing in his contention that we can and should all learn from events such as these.

The work will clearly be of great interest not only to local historians and descendants of inhabitants who kindly provided photographs and other materials for inclusion, but to those from geographically distant mining areas and those experienceing struggles in unrelated areas who have witnessed, endured, or been brought up on similar stories of the working man's indomitability against all odds.

"A Timeline of Fifteenth Century England" covers the broad stretch between the Edwards of the fourteenth century, and the Tudors of the sixteenth. It begins with the Lancastrian usurpation,and ends with the death of the first Tudor King. Packed in between, the throne of England was usurpted six times, England was invaded seven times by Englishmen, several times by the French, and some dozen times by the Scots. The fifteenth century saw the last phase of the Hundred Years War -- a heroic and frustrating thirty-five year struggle -- and the entire Wars of the Roses -- another thirty-five years of internecine bloodshed, including the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Three different dynasties ruled England, by seven different kings, including the shortest reign of an English king since the Norman invasion. Meanwhile, English kings began to use English as the preferred written language, and the first book was printed in England. Parliament grew particularly strong, the King became a Constitutional Monarch, and England transformed from late medievalism into a reformation that led to the Renaissance. All this occurred during periods of corruption and chaos, murder and mayhem, treachery and betrayal, and war and rebellion, interspersed with occassional periods of peace and properity. It has been said that no King can rule the English for long without fighting a war, and the fifteenth century proves the point. Within these pages lies a timeline documenting all the key events and contrasting personalities of this turbulent period, from beginning to end.

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This is a story of the River Thames, its working people, and the Port of London in the early 18th Century. It is the story of the origin of a famous rowing race held on the river. 'Doggett's Coat and Badge', now the oldest continually held annual event in the sporting calendar, and simply called The Coat by the watermen of today. It is told through the eyes of Edwin, the unknown young wherryman on whom Doggett supposedly based his race. It is the tale of the life-style of the rivermen and the citizenry of London in those harsh and brutal times. Although fiction, the book is based on facts gleaned from a study of the records of the City and the trading Guilds of London.