Patricia M Osborne

I’m delighted to invite Mick Arnold back to Patricia’s Pen. This time to celebrate his brand-new release The Lumberjills. Mick blogs about this new book which is first in a series. Without further ado, it’s over to Mick.

The Lumberjills

Mick Arnold

Outside of the Armed Forces, the Civilian Services were of undoubted necessity to Great Britain’s contribution to winning World War Two. Most everyone will have heard of our women’s participation as air raid wardens, ambulance drivers, doctors and nurses, firewomen and, most famously, as land girls, part of the Women’s Land Army. Can you hold your hand to your heart and say you’ve heard of the ‘Women’s Timber Corps’?

Only created in 1942, they were formed along the lines of women who performed the same duties during World War One. As with the land army, these girls sometimes had difficulty in obtaining a billet, as there was a great deal of prejudice towards them, believing them to be dirty, however, they swiftly earned the admiration of the farmers and those male foresters left, that they were as good as the men they replaced.

In this, the first in a new series, I hope to introduce the reader to a group of women whose work was so vital to our war effort, yet still, if not forgotten, relatively unknown. These women faced death, maiming and injury, every working day, and I shall not shirk from making this danger a part of their stories.

Having said this, and these are a big part of historical sagas, there are love stories to be told and having served in the Royal Air Force for sixteen years, I’ll also be taking the opportunity to show how members of this, as well as the other two services, integrated into civilian life. The RAF takes centre stage in this first book. However, love can never run smoothly in wartime, can it? More than most civilian workers, the Lumberjills moved around a lot, often having lived in dozens of billets during the war, so we’ll also be seeing how relationships were affected by this.

I shall leave you with something to ponder:

Once you joined the ‘Women’s Timber Corps’ (otherwise known as the Lumberjills), you were not allowed to resign; such was the importance of their work to Great Britain’s war effort.

Blurb

Berry Chambers and her co-workers have joined the Women’s Timber Corps—known as the Lumberjills—to do their bit for Britain. On their first day felling trees, they rescue an RAF pilot and become entangled in the loveless marriage of their new landlords.

Danger is never far away, be it an ill-timed axe swing or the occasional activity of the Luftwaffe overhead. Add a psychotic farm cat, a couple of young runaway evacuees, a spate of malicious packages, and the jealousy of the Land Girls next door, and life for Berry and her friends is never boring.

Can the girls find the balance between their vital war work and the natural pull of love?

Author’s favourite passage

Everyone got to their feet, apart from Vicky, who slowly made her way to sit down beside the dead German’s head. As she stroked what the others hoped was the side of his face, she looked up at her friends, though her eyes didn’t appear to be focused upon them. “You go,” she said to no one in particular. “I’ll stay here with him.” She turned her attention back to the body before adding, “He’s about the same age as my brother.”

About Mick Arnold

Mick is a hopeless romantic who was born in England but spent fifteen years roaming around the world in the pay of the late HM Queen Elisabeth II in the Royal Air Force before putting down roots—and realizing how much he missed the travel. This he’s replaced somewhat with his writing, including reviewing books and supporting fellow saga and romance authors in promoting their novels. He’s the proud keeper of two Romanian Werecats bent on world domination, is mad on the music of the Beach Boys, and enjoys the theatre and humouring his Manchester United-supporting wife

Social Media Links

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

BUY

Amazon and Apple Books

Nook