Anne Loader Publications - Léonie Press - Kathleen: Memories of a girl who grew up in wartime

A dramatic accident with a runaway lorry in Southern France led Kathleen to the town of La Grande Motte, twinned with Hornsea in Yorkshire - and stirred memories of the happiest days of her wartime childhood in the English seaside town.

This book was written originally for the author's children and grandchildren when she was suffering from terminal cancer. In it, she traces her early days from her infancy in Edinburgh, evacuation to Kelty in Fife, a welcome return to Edinburgh and the momentous move to Hornsea in 1941, when her father was promoted to assistant manager of an insurance company branch in Hull.

Against a background of austerity and rationing, she describes the sickening sight of an RAF plane crashing into the sea, and nights spent sheltering from the German bombing of Hull. But not everything was bleak. Kathleen loved her convent school and was even more blissfully happy when she discovered the local riding centre where she spent most of her spare time with the horses. It was here that she encountered Free French leader General Leclerc and accompanied a French Major on regular rides through the countryside in the lead-up to D-Day. So it was understandable that she was devastated when her parents broke the news that they were moving yet again...

	Kathleen: Memories of a girl who grew up in wartime Written by K M Thomas ISBN: 978-1-901253-02-3 (Old ISBN: 1 901253 02 3) 116 pages, Paperback, 146mm x 208mm. Published by Leonie Press in December 1996. Reprinted August 2000. Price: £ 5.99 UK Postage and Packing:

About the Book
A dramatic accident with a runaway lorry in Southern France led Kathleen to the town of La Grande Motte, twinned with Hornsea in Yorkshire - and stirred memories of the happiest days of her wartime childhood in the English seaside town. This book was written originally for the author's children and grandchildren when she was suffering from terminal cancer. In it, she traces her early days from her infancy in Edinburgh, evacuation to Kelty in Fife, a welcome return to Edinburgh and the momentous move to Hornsea in 1941, when her father was promoted to assistant manager of an insurance company branch in Hull. Against a background of austerity and rationing, she describes the sickening sight of an RAF plane crashing into the sea, and nights spent sheltering from the German bombing of Hull. But not everything was bleak. Kathleen loved her convent school and was even more blissfully happy when she discovered the local riding centre where she spent most of her spare time with the horses. It was here that she encountered Free French leader General Leclerc and accompanied a French Major on regular rides through the countryside in the lead-up to D-Day. So it was understandable that she was devastated when her parents broke the news that they were moving yet again...