• A very kind visitor to the site from the U.S. has made a generous donation which will contribute to the cost of hosting the site for another 12 months. More research and new additions to come! Many thanks!

• Did you by any chance listen to this 30 mins. programme on Radio 4 Extra recently? If you have not heard it before it is interesting. Chris Morris, from the BBC, found scraps of a diary in a Sussex lane and traced the owner to Sunny Bank Hospital, Cannes. It also mentions Barry Dierks and Helen Vagliano. The programme was first broadcast back in 2000 and is available on line through the Radio 4 Extra website for about the next 7 days only. Click here to listen now! I have made a copy of the recording but doubt it will be possible to add it to the site due to copyright.

• The family home of Sir John Fortescue, 'Castle Hill', now opens its gardens daily. A lovely part of the country, near Barnstaple, and well worth a visit. For full details and opening times visit their web site here.

Castle Hill, Barnstaple

• If you plan on visiting the West Country try the Exmoor Country House Hotel across the moor near Porlock. Having just spent a short break there I cannot speak too highly of it. You will be made extremely welcome by the owners, Steve & Sally, for whom nothing is too much trouble, in their spacious and spotless hotel. Click here to visit their web site.

Exmoor Country House Hotel near Porlock

January 2014

• New for 2014 from author Maureen Emerson - Now on Kindle at £1.87 Courage is Maureen’s small tribute to the bravery of those young people who felt it was their duty to go independently to the Great War. It is the true story of two of these, Dillwyn and Elisabeth Parrish Starr, a brother and sister from Philadelphia who left for France in 1914 and 1916 respectively. The United States did not enter the war until 1917, then virtually saving the day, but many Americans of all ages poured large amounts of money, aid and themselves into the conflict from as early as 1914. Dillwyn and Elisabeth went for different reasons, one to fight with the British Army on the Somme and the other to engage in dangerous aid work on the Western Front. The outcome for each was very different.

  The story follows the progress, through the early part of the 20th century, of the respected Starr family of Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. The family had an esteemed position in the town, but nevertheless two of their three children would leave home and eventually never see their parents again. The exception was Dillwyn Starr, the middle child and the love of his parents’ life. Dillwyn would leave for France almost as soon as war was declared and, after many adventures. eventually become a young officer in the British Coldstream Guards.

  Elisabeth Starr sailed to France to nurse with Mrs William K. Vanderbilt at the American Ambulance Hospital in Paris before throwing herself into dangerous and exhausting work on the Somme battlefields.

  There was a third child, the eldest sibling. Louis Starr Jr joined the conflict in 1917 and became a balloon observer sailing over the front lines tracking enemy movements during almost all the battles in which American troops became involved. Beset with problems at home, his bravery was unsung. All were truly brave.

Courage is based on a chapter in Maureen’s book Escape to Provence.

Click here to buy now from Amazon UK at only £1.87 or visit Maureen's site here.