Castle Point in the Great War

Brief history on the various parishes that make up the Borough of Castle Point and what life was like prior to 1915. It includes stories of suspected aliens, conscientious objectors (The peculiar People), those who claimed exemption for business reasons and British overseas internees.

After meeting only a few years ago while researching a local PoW camp that they were individually writing about, Ken and Stephen have since collaborated on several books. Ken is a well-respected local historian who has spent many years writing about and giving talks on Laindon and Langdon Hills, whilst Stephen had his first book, Two Sons in a War Zone: Afghanistan: The True Story of a Father’s Conflict, published in 2010. It is his personal account of his sons serving in Afghanistan. Both Ken and Stephen had grandparents who served in and survived the Great War.

Stephen is a retired police officer having served with Essex Police as a constable for thirty years between 1983 and 2013. He is married to Tanya and has two sons, Luke and Ross, and a daughter, Aimee. His sons served five tours of Afghanistan between 2008 and 2013 and both were injured. This led to the publication of his first book, Two Sons in a Warzone – Afghanistan: The True Story of a Father’s Conflict, published in October 2010. Both Stephen’s grandfathers served in and survived the First World War, one with the Royal Irish Rifles, the other in the Mercantile Marine, whilst his father was a member of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War.

When not writing Stephen can be found walking his for German Shepherd dogs with his wife Tanya, at some unearthly time of the morning, when most normal people are still fast asleep.