History Book News: Wartime New Forest Revealed by John Leete out next month

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20.

September

2017.

History Book News: Wartime New Forest Revealed by John Leete out next month

ADVANCEINFORMATION SHEET

Wartime New Forest Revealed

By John Leete - Published by Bourchier Books

"Leete's book gives us an insight into what happened in the New Forest in such an excellent and fascinating way that I shall never be able to travel through the area again without recalling the incredible stories and events he writes about in a most brilliant manner." --Oliver Tobias, Director and Documentary Film-maker

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The history of the Second World War is so well documented that at no other time in our lives have we been able to find out so much about what really happened during this intriguing and monumental time.

Wartime New Forest Revealedis an important book because it adds one more piece to the fascinating WW2 history jigsaw - it is inspired by research taken from films, LiDAR surveys, maps, aerial photography, personal accounts, and military archives. This book takes a part-documentary, part-referenced approach to understanding how the unique natural area of the New Forest contributed to the war effort. To set the scene, the author first considers the social and political climate on the road to war. Through personal anecdotes, period news items and social commentary, wartime preparations in the New Forest are put into a local, regional and national context.

Leete beautifully illustrates a truth about wartime Great Britain, as once expressed by Charles Darwin, that ‘it is the long history of humankind... that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed'.

The New Forest, a military training area since the 16^thcentury, had a pivotal role during the preparations for and the launch of D-Day 1944. Many consider that the ultimate success of the D-Day Campaign was in part due to the fact the Allied Armed Forces were able to harness so much power and might within the Forest. This coastal location was deemed ideal geographically and an almost purpose-built springboard from which to launch a major component of ‘Operation Overlord'.

The New Forest played its part at this turning point in world history. Post WW2, the Government of the day spent millions to remove as much of the wartime-built environment as possible. The people too wanted to forget about the war and move forward into a brave new world. Many wartime structures were demolished and there was major demolition programme affecting many airfields and military installations across the country. In the New Forest, as elsewhere, many sites were demolished although tangible evidence of military occupation fortunately still remains in the area. National interest in preserving our wartime heritage gathered momentum in the 1970s and since then, many derelict buildings from the period have been restored, many memorials built to those who served and many sites taken into public ownership so as to preserve the built history. A major survey of the New Forest has revealed and recorded sites of wartime ‘occupation'. This exercise, led by the New Forest National Park Authority, has formed part of a wider fact-finding and information-gathering project, which reveals the extent of the wartime role of the Forest and its people.

‘Wartime New Forest Revealed' offers:

A new piece of the fascinating jigsaw about life on Britain's Home Front during WW2.
Recently researched and discovered information and images that are being published for the first time.
Incredible tales and insights relating to the importance of the New Forest during WW2.
An enthralling, widely unknown story of the Observer Corps, considered the eyes and ears of the RAF.

About the Author

[image] An established Hampshire-based journalist and author, John Leete turned to the subject of modern History for light relief and became hooked. He is best known as the author of the highly acclaimed book ‘The New Forest At War'. John has written miles of words on many subjects every year as a freelance, including contributing to various history magazines. John is part of the team behind Homefronthistory.com, a voluntary and not-for-profit UK social enterprise that is a much-loved resource for historians, educators, the media, museums, and everyone interested in WW2. John is a renal transplant patient and wrote his original New Forest title to help him through dialysis and transplantation. Thankfully, he got well and is now hooked on writing books.