He had one of the more unglamorous jobs in the Second World War, but selftaught violinist George Warner’s letters home from the North African and Italian Campaigns – in which he served as a dispatch rider for the Royal Army Service Corps – provide an enthralling, humane account of Europe’s darkest years.
Writing home to ‘Dearest Maudie’ and his young daughters, who had been evacuated from Eastbourne to the Midlands, George Warner filled his accounts of service with the No. 8 Petrol Depot of the RASC with the small and vital details of day-to-day life – aspects of wartime that are all too often absent from more conventional histories. Motorcycling around Italy, Warner found the time to learn to dance (he had crushed his ankle before the war), take up new musical instruments (including the guitar and the mandolin), and learn Italian. He forged a lifelong friendship with fellow rider Bill Evans, whose daughter assisted Jean with the preparation of the book.
Throughout the book, what is most evident is Warner’s articulate yearning to return home to his family and his beloved Eastbourne. He returns to the theme frequently, and for this soldier at least, it was a wish that came true: his violin and the longed-for south coast were waiting for him in the country he had spent four years defending:
‘I haven’t written much lately. I don’t seem to have been able to manage it, but I have been thinking of you all the more … I sometimes wonder whether it has been worth it … I see all around poverty and disease … little babies covered in sores and obviously either underfed or not getting the right food. When I see these things, then I realise it has been worth it for I feel that I have done my share in helping to keep such conditions from our little girls and from you. I would rather spend the rest of my life here than anything like that should happen to you.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jean Perraton is the daughter of the late George Warner and her husband is historian Hilary Perraton. She is the author of Swimming Against the Stream: Reclaiming Lakes and Rivers for People to Enjoy.
235 x 156 mm | paperback | 160 pages | 32 b&w illustrations
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