Fictionalised story of D-Day GIs in West Dorset (From Dorset Echo)

Fictionalised story of D-Day GIs in West Dorset

10:41am Tuesday 24th March 2009 in

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SHE may have been a schoolgirl at the time but Elizabeth Buckler Gale has a good memory, a vivid imagination and a historian’s ability for research.

So writing a novel based on the reality of the D-Day landings was a labour of love for the West Country historian and author, who lives in the home she restored with her late husband Guy in Salway Ash.

No stranger to print, this is Mrs Gale’s first foray into fiction.

Her previous books include Farmers, Fishermen and Flax Spinners, a history of Burton Bradstock and its people.

Last year she brought out a book Two Days One Summer detailing the sale of the village of Burton and parts of West Bay in 1958.

But it was the memory of the American troops befriended by her parents that stayed with her and formed the basis for her novel – a book she was pleased to have finished before the death of her husband in January.

Those troops became family friends and when they left gave the young Elizabeth a puppy. Their gifts of an illuminated hand-made 10th birthday card and poem are among her most treasured possessions.

In the intervening years she and her husband Guy visited Normandy and the D-Day museums on numerous occasion. She found the sight of the cemeteries harrowing but a fitting reminder of the sacrifices made.

Although a work of fiction readers can be sure that historical facts have been checked with the thoroughness and accuracy Mrs Gale is renowned for.

The D-Day accounts come from those who survived and the details of events are fact not fiction. Verification of the US army equipment was given by the Living History Re-enactors and she even discussed weather conditions with expert Tony Legg.

The dog tags pictured on the front cover were found by Ron Howse of the Weymouth Metal Detecting Club near Long Bredy where a US army camp was based. The characters are on the other hand are fictional and the story centres on a teenage boy visiting his grandparents on the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy.

Without giving too much away the boy is caught in a flood and weird D-Day happenings he is only able to solve on his return to the village 40 years later.

Mrs Gale will be signing copies of her book at the Hive Beach Café on Tuesday March 31 from 10am to noon and from 2.30 to 4.30pm. Us army photographs and memorabilia will be on display courtesy of café boss Steve Attrill. She will also be signing copies at The Book Shop in South Street, Bridport on April 11 from 10am to noon.