The Belgian Bride

by Richard F.A. White

Overview

In 1939, at the outbreak of war, many young men still in their teens volunteered for duty in the armed forces. Alan Granville White, a nineteen-year-old from Nuneaton in Warwickshire, was so taken with the idea of flying that he enlisted in the RAF. After a short spell as a radio operator in light bombers, he was transferred to the new long-range radio detection stations called 'Chain Home'. These were the pioneer units of a brilliant early warning system better known as RADAR. In late 1944, now a Flight Sergeant, Alan was sent to Mons in Belgium close to Hitler's final desperate assault in the Ardennes. One night at a party organised by the RAF and the USAAF in Mons, Odette Moreau, an eighteen-year-old Belgian girl, asked for help with a misbehaving gramophone. Alan volunteered and in an instant, both were propelled into a whirlwind romance. Alan also discovered that Odette, her parents, family and friends had witnessed dreadful tragedies as well as suffering at the hands of the occupying forces and collaborators. They even survived a 155km walk to the coast, fraught with danger, only to be forced to turn around and head back to Mons.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940156155279
Publisher:	Richard F.A. White
Publication date:	09/03/2018
Sold by:	Draft2Digital
Format:	eBook
File size:	769 KB

About the Author

Now in his retirement years, but refusing to lay down, Richard White, the son of the two main characters in the 'Belgian Bride', has only recently decided to write books. Most of his working life has been spent as a photographer, designer artist and tutor. However, writing about the dramatic events leading up to when his parents met in war-torn Belgium has always motivated him to publish their compelling story. 'The Belgian Bride' is Richard's first book. There are others planned for the future including a fictional account about a WW2 Airfield, inspired by RAF Tangmere in West Sussex.