Argus title : Making order out of chaos
One of the privileges of writing this column, is that I meet so many diverse and fascinating people. Not only that, I am allowed to step outside the normal constraints of polite English society and ask them as many questions as I like. They may not answer, but at least I am permitted to inquire.
Despite the latitude I enjoy as a journalist, I was a little uneasy when someone suggested I write about local author Patrick Delaforce. Patrick is a prolific military historian, from a family steeped in British military tradition. A troop commander in the Second World War, he was twice mentioned in dispatches and was awarded the Bronze Cross of Orange-Nassau. His father served at Supreme Headquarters (SHAEF) and his uncle was active in Special Operations (SOE).
I am the daughter of a Scottish/South African conscientious objector who was spat at and sent white feathers because he would not enlist. I spent my adolescence reading about pacifists such as Tolstoy, Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Though my maternal grandfather fought in East Africa during the First World War and was promoted to captain, he seemed anxious to forget the horrors of war. He kept his medals, but never wore them. Continue reading