Last Anzac Day my nephew Peter asked me if there was any way he could access his grandfather’s war stories to read to his kids. I had to disappoint him but said I was working at publishing them online. Well, it took the best part of a year but, finally, you can read them on this site, as well as his stories about the Depression. Please treat it as a work in progress. There are only a few photos, for example. I’d like to add more, and if possible more war stories after Alamein.

Some people find the change in “voice” confusing between Dad’s own writing and mine, normally where I’ve constructed the narrative out of his letters home and the notes that he left. To make it worse, Mum gets a say too. I’ll work on making what I’ve done more consistent, but for now it is what it is.

This website also has my own ramblings, so it’s quite possible to accidentally jump from Alexandria in 1942 to LA or Istanbul in 2001. I’m sorry if that happens! I’ve said here that I’m likely to write about anything that comes to mind, and that I think of the site as “a wall of pigeon holes, organised by date and theme,” into which I can post the results, whatever they are. So far all I’ve posted has been about a couple of trips Heather and I took 20-plus years ago. We had fun so if you do get lost in there I hope you enjoy it. Feedback welcome — and thanks again for coming. ~ Ian

PS — Sorry, you won’t be able to log in yet. I’m working on it 🙁