The Compass of Naivety

In the spring of 1959 Clive Chabrier set off to go jiving at the Aldershot Palais. A spur of the moment decision changed his direction that fateful evening and within 36 hours he was unwittingly imprisoned in the menacing confines of a Foreign Legion base. Weeks later, with the silent but real threat of unknown consequences if he refused, Clive ceased to be a prisoner and reluctantly became a legion recruit. What followed was a long, harsh and brutal training under NCOs of the now disbanded 1er REP where he earned his wings as a Legion paratrooper in war-torn Algeria. Determined to escape, Clive took many perilous steps towards freedom, including a fascinating and nail-biting voyage across the world as a stowaway on a ship whose English captain was obsessed with handing him back to the French. At an opportune moment Clive fled the ship in Australia where his adventures as a fugitive in the wild North West give a wonderful flavour of an era and concludes his five year survival journey - all of which makes this book an immediately compelling, fast page-turner.

Born on the Isle of Wight, England, May 1939, Clive never met his own father, inheriting the name 'Chabrier' from his French stepfather. Not happy with his home life and eager to experience the world, he set off as quickly as possible in the mid 1950s. His 'misadventures' began as a young seaman, when he was misled into jumping ship. Through that action he became a fugitive, later caught, locked up and then deported. Several colorful experiences later, he woke one morning, penniless and hungry as a globetrotter in 1959 France. Hoping to cadge a cup of coffee and a wash, he tried visiting someone in an army camp that he'd met the day before. Only to suddenly find himself, with no formality, and against his will, 'locked up' then progressively intimidated into joining the French Foreign Legion. A year later, his escape from their 2eme REP base in Philippeville, Algeria, led to more adventures around the world, including eventually on Yampi Sound's Cockatoo Island, and in the bohemian pearling town of Broome up in Australia's vast North West. Years in London were enjoyed as a driving instructor and running his own removal truck among other jobs. Then he fell upon a 'chilled out lifestyle' in the hazy, heady streets around West London's Powis Square, where he chose to work as an unpaid, detached community worker. Some years on, a seven-year surreal nightmare journey would demand intense times spent in London, The West Indies, Sweden and the Isle of Wight, before re-discovering the childhood message to himself as an adult, that would result in resolving his drawn out nightmare. A long-term interest in alternative therapies led Clive to study, qualify and then found his own professional Therapeutic Massage School where he successfully taught a variety of therapy courses for over twelve years. Clive now spends an unconventional lifestyle between London and the Isle of Wight where, following this first book, 'The Compass of Naivety' and exhibiting his artwork, he is currently working on a second book about that surreal but healing journey. Meanwhile, he continues to offer both 'Health Maintenance Massage' and 'Kriya Breathwork Sessions' on his houseboat. Steve Lakeland - long-term friend.