A J Denny

The reason i wrote Tommy's Story was to enable my family to read about their oldest living relative. I was acutely aware that Tommy'was now an old man and that if I did not act soon I might not have the opportunity to do so later. I was afraid that my great uncle’s story would be lost to my family forever. When Tommy agreed, I was greatly relieved and after several visits and many telephone conversations this is the story that emerged. As I started to write the book I realised that the story that was unfolding was not only of interest to my family but perhaps to a much wider audience. I found that the story was materialising into something of significance to more than just my family. It became not just about Tommy, my own relative, but about all the British ‘Tommys’ who were taken from villages, towns and cities to do battle on foreign land during the Second World War, so many of whom were never to return home. Hence the intended audience is anyone who has an interest in personal histories and another’s astonishing memories of the war years which, after all, affected so many of our family members. This is Tommy’s story as told by him to me.