NEW EBOOK - Ghosts of Dorchester (Bretwalda Ghost Files Book 6)

NEW EBOOK - Ghosts of Dorchester (Bretwalda Ghost Files Book 6)

Dorchester is the county town of Dorset, a quiet haven of shops, pubs and Roman ruins - but there are also ghosts, phantoms and spooks of many kinds.
This book looks at the ghosts that haunt this town. Jordan Godwinstone has visited the haunted properties and investigate the spooky goings on. In this book we meet a phantom Roman, the spectre of the vengeful Judge Jeffreys and the colourful ghost of a vicar who returns to his old church - among others.
The “Bretwalda Ghost Files” series seeks to look at some of the best known or best authenticated hauntings the have been reported.


About the Author
Jordan Godwinstowe has been studying ghosts for the past 30 years. He began by investigating ghosts to pass the evenings while away from home on business trips, but more recently has been undertaking journeys specifically to carry out investigations into reputedly haunted buildings. He has a vast archive of photos and witness statements about hauntings and ghosts of many different kinds. Now he brings his extensive expertise to bear on the Bretwalda Ghost Files.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-Dorchester-Bretwalda-Ghost-Files-ebook/dp/B00PFYZKN8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1420012277&sr=1-1&keywords=ghosts+of+dorchester

VIDEO - The Nandi Bear, a cryptid casebook

 Get your kindle copy HERE


Lurking among the forested hills of East Africa is said to be a bear-like animal of unparalleled power and ferocity. It can kill a man with a blow of its clawed foot, it feasts on children, sheep and goats, but most terrifying of all is the fact that it eats only the brains of its victims. This is the description usually given of the Nandi Bear. But does the animal really exist?

There are eyewitness reports, footprints and the mangled bodies of victims to prove the existence of the Nandi Bear, but as yet nobody has ever caught one, killed one or produced definitive evidence of its existence. Science refuses to accept that this elusive beast really exists, but those who live in the forested hills have no doubts. They walk in fear of the creatures.

In this book cryptid expert Larry Jaffer reviews the evidence for this mysterious beast and comes to some surprising conclusions.

Cryptids are animals, or plants, which are believed by some people to exist, but which have not been accepted as real by the wider scientific community. These cryptids are animals which have been seen, and sometimes photographed, but for which no definitive evidence has been found. This series of Cryptid Casebooks explores the world of the cryptids.

CONTENTS
Introduction - The Cryptid Casebook
Chapter 1 - Evidence for the Nandi Bear
Chapter 2 - Conclusions about Nandi Bear
Appendix - A note on nomenclature
Appendix B - Credits

About the Author
Larry Jaffer has long had an interest in the fortean mysteries that surround us. He grew up in the Surrey when the Surrey Puma hit the headlines, and went out in search of that elusive beast - without success. Since then he has researched a myriad of other cryptids, including Sasquatch, the sea serpent, the Beast of Bodmin and others. He has also investigated UFO sightings and tracked down numerous ghosts and poltergeists. He has a voluminous archive of witness interviews, photos and other data to back up his writings on the subjects of the unusual, paranormal and downright odd.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nandi-Bear-Brain-eater-Cryptid-Casebook-ebook/dp/B00PHONS9E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1419928007&sr=1-1&keywords=cryptid+casebook+nandi

NEW EBOOK - Henry VIII - Tudor Serial Killer: His victims and their stories

Henry VIII was a self-centered, psychopath, without conscious or remorse, who did exactly the right thing at the right time for the wrong reasons?
This book by a leading politician looks at the series of political killings carried out by arguably  Britain’s most ruthless and blood-soaked monarch: Henry VIII.
By studying the reasons for the judicial murders of figures such as Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and a host of other victims, this book seeks to show why it was the Henry indulged in show trials and summary executions in a way that neither his predecessor nor successors did.
Was Henry VIII just a run of the mill ruthless tyrant who disposed of anyone who opposed him, or was there more to it? Was he a psychopath? This book looks at the evidence that he had a psychopathic personality from the outset but which became more marked with his advancing years and ill health. Did Henry’s VIII serious jousting accident in 1536 cause brain damage that lowered his inhibitions and give full reign to an increasingly paranoid and psychopathic personality?
Henry’s break with Rome was in the author’s view inevitable and beneficial, but examines to what extent was his penchant for killing was the result of purely realpolitik considerations or because of his psychopathic personality and declining heath?
This book traces Henry’s career as a killer, explaining what drove him to resort to such actions and whether England became a better or worse place for having had a serial killer as monarch.

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 Was Henry VIII a psychopath?
Chapter 2 Henry’s Health: Illnesses, Conditions and Injuries
Chapter 3 Like Father Like Son: Judicial Murder
Chapter 4 The Destruction of the Old Nobility: the de la Poles and the Duke of Buckingham
Chapter 5 The Break with Rome
Chapter 6 Bishop John Fisher and Sir Thomas More
Chapter 7 Adultery, Incest and Treason: The Boleyn Case
Chapter 8 Torture and Execution
Chapter 9 Ideological Victims: Martyrs and Heretics
Chapter 10 Casualties of the Suppression of the Monasteries
Chapter 11 Rebellion: The Pilgrimage of Grace
Chapter 12 More Nobility Destroyed: the Poles, the Courtneys, and the Nevilles
Chapter 13 More Treason
Chapter 14 Thomas Cromwell and Others
Chapter 15 Catherine Howard and Others
Chapter 16 Killed With Kindness: Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle
Chapter 17 Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Chapter 18 The Ones That Got Away – Almost
Chapter 19 Henry VIII: The Verdict
Chapter 20 Grave Secrets
Appendix I - Henry VIII’s Main Victims in Chronological Order
Appendix II - The Tombs of English Monarchs Already Disturbed
Glossary


About the Author
Gerard Batten is a Member of the European Parliament for London for the UK Independence Party. He was first elected in 2004, re-elected in 2009, and elected for a third term in May 2014.
He was a founder member of the UK Independence Party in 1993, and has served as a Party spokesman on Defence and Security, Immigration, and Home Affairs.
He has written articles and booklets on a wide range of political subjects and has two other books published by Bretwalda Press: Inglorious Revolution (2013), and The Road to Freedom (2014)
Inglorious Revolution was co-authored with Pavel Stroilov and charts how the English Constitution was subverted by Britain’s membership of the European Union.
The Road to Freedom lays out the case for Britain’s unconditional and unilateral withdrawal from the European Union.
This, his latest book, is his first foray into a purely historical subject and was written as light relief from the world of politics (or so he thought at the time of starting it).

---

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Henry-VIII-Serial-victims-stories-ebook/dp/B00NCEIA2Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1419840677&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+henry+viii

NEW EBOOK - Conspiracy History: A History of the World for Conspiracy Theorists

Preface by Nick Redfern

JFK, the Bilderberg Group and the New World Order – conspiracy theories abound on today’s internet, but they are nothing new. Taking a long-term view reveals century after century of covert conspiracies, murder plots and political intrigues. The history of the world is riddled with hidden agendas, scheming politicians and secretive organisations.

Did the U.S. government fake the 9/11 terror attacks? Was the British establishment behind the death of Diana, Princess of Wales? Conspiracy theories like these may be a modern phenomenon, but the basic idea – that world events are controlled by cynically duplicitous schemers – is as old as history. When the heir to the English throne died in 1120, they said it was an accident – but it was an accident from which certain people benefited a great deal. When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, it was in response to blatant Polish aggression... which just happened to be the work of Nazi soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms. As Niccolò Machiavelli said 500 years ago, “the end justifies the means”. History is often dismissed as a dull subject, but it leaps into all-too-contemporary life when seen through the eyes of a Conspiracy Theorist! This fast-paced account tells you everything you need to know about the convenient accidents, false flag operations and hidden agendas that have shaped the course of history.

CONTENTS

Preface by Nick Redfern

Chapter 1: A brief introduction to conspiracy theories

Chapter 2: False flag incidents

Chapter 3: They acted alone - or did they?

Chapter 4: Hidden agendas

Chapter 5: Convenient deaths

Chapter 6: Secret identities

Chapter 7: The Illuminati and others

Chapter 8: Rewriting history

Chapter 9: Chronology of Conspiracy

About the Author
Andrew May is a former defence scientist with an MA from Cambridge University and a PhD from Manchester University. His thirty year career spanned academia, the civil service and the defence industry. He has worked on advanced technology research in Farnborough, strategic planning in Whitehall and operational analysis for a large defence company. He is now based in the South-West of England where he works as a freelance writer and consultant.

Get your Kindle copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conspiracy-History-World-Theorists-ebook/dp/B00O5EX9BE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1419754396&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+conspiracy+history

The Siege of Canon Frome - Video

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The village of Canon Frome nestles among the rolling hills of Herefordshire. Today it is a quiet, rural place, but in 1645 bloody war came here as Roundhead faced Cavalier in a brutal struggle that left the land strewn with the dead and maimed.
The siege of the manor housewas one of the final clashes of the English Civil War, taking place soon after King Charles lost the key Battle of Naseby. The defending Royalists had been occupying the manor house for over two years by the time the army of David Leslie, Earl of Leven, arrived to take it from then. What followed was one of the most savage sieges fought during the English Civil War.
This book brings an exciting new look to the English Civil War. The course of the campaign is given, but the emphasis is on the Battle itself and the men who fought there. There are analyses of weapons, tactics and strategies, and a study of the commanders. The course of the battle is followed with explanation of how it relates to the ground today. The aftermath of the battle, its effects and importance to the progress of the war are then described.
The “Bretwalda Battles” series has been running with increasing success as printed books and as ebooks for five years.

Contents
Chapter 1 - Canon Frome
Chapter 2 - The English Civil War
Chapter 3 - The Commanders at Canon Frome
Chapter 4 - The Siege of Canon Frome
Chapter 5 - Aftermath
Chapter 6 - The Battlefield Today
Acknowledgements


About the Author
Leonard James is an author of military books. He comes from a military family that has fought in every major war since at least the Crimean War, and probably before that. His forebears were mostly cavalrymen, though his father served in the RAF. Leonard has made a particular study of battlefields in Britain, walking over dozens of them to get an eye for ground. He has also handled genuine and replica weapons to better understand the use of pre-modern weapons and the men who wielded them.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Siege-Canon-Frome-Bretwalda-Battles-ebook/dp/B00PQYB7R0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1419319929&sr=1-1&keywords=canon+frome

Bader enters the "Big Wing Controversey"

While Douglas was happy with the number of aircraft that had been shot down by the Duxford Wing, he was not at all  happy with the way things had gone during the afternoon. In his usual dogmatic way he forcibly expressed to the AOC that he felt let down in that the squadrons had been called into the air too late. He also complained that in his opinion the policy of letting 11 Group squadrons fight the battle, while keeping 12 Group squadrons in reserve, was fundamentally flawed.

Douglas’s theory was that as soon as the Luftwaffe began to assemble on the other side of the Channel, the12 Group squadrons should be scrambled and then head south. This would enable the Luftwaffe to be attacked while 11 Group squadrons were getting off the ground and gaining height.

This was contrary to Fighter Command’s established and carefully thought-out plan, but Douglas saw his Big Wing theory as being complementary to the squadrons of 11 Group rather than in opposition.

In Douglas’s mind there was also another important factor that needed to be taken into consideration to ensure success and as ever, he was not at all reluctant to share his opinion. Control, he felt, had to come from the centre at Fighter Command Headquarters in Stanmore rather than from Group controllers.

  It was only the C-in-C who had a complete picture of what was going on. Group commanders were limited to their own areas, but  incoming raids often overlapped Group boundaries. This presented problems when squadrons from one Group crossed into the territory of another. Douglas of course was not the only one to identify the flaw in the plan, but he was one of the most vocal in his criticism of it.

Dowding, however, did not see the need for a comprehensive Command control until very late on, by which time the differences between Park and Leigh-Mallory had festered to the point where they were effectively beyond redemption. In hindsight early intervention by Dowding could and should have defused the situation, but early intervention did not happen. 

from "Douglas Bader" by Michael Evans

Get you copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Bader-Heroes-Michael-Evans/dp/1909698121/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417771944&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+bader

Bretwalda Author on Binnall of America

Bretwalda Author Andrew May has been interviewed in depth on Binnall of America.

See the interview HERE

http://www.binnallofamerica.com/2014/11/24/room-101-interview-andrew-may-author-conspiracy-history/

Douglas Bader in Action over France, 1941

In fact the weather that year was so bad that it was June before conditions had  improved sufficiently for the Tangmere Wing to begin the new offensive and to operate en masse. Once again the enemy fighters kept out of the way of these large formations and as before they were content to just pick off the occasional stray. Limited fuel capacity meant that the RAF fighters could not fly very far inland and consequently were unlikely to inflict much damage.

Douglas was frustrated by the lack of action and was furious when other Wings, such as Sailor Malan’s Biggin Hill Wing, managed to score successes while the Tangmere Wing ended up with nothing. This all changed somewhat after 22nd June following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa.

New tactics raised the level of RAF aggression and in addition to the major goal of destroying as many enemy aircraft as possible, it was also hoped that this increased aggression by the RAF would not only limit the number of enemy aircraft being transferred to Russia, but would actually encourage the Luftwaffe to withdraw fighters from Russia to meet the increasing attacks in the West.

Circus operations became more complex and the Wings were in the thick of things from late June right through July. The fighter Wings flew in close-escort with small formations of bombers, giving close-support and providing top cover. The aim was to draw up enemy aircraft before the main force of the escort wing started to run short of fuel and had to turn for home. If all went according to plan, the target-withdrawal wing would arrive to engage the enemy just as the fighters of the escort wing were beginning to leave.

If the weather was favourable, there would generally be two or three sweeps almost every day. On days when the weather was bad, Douglas was in the habit of mounting unauthorised Rhubarb flights. Ostensibly he and his section would be engaging in ‘local flying’ but in reality he would lead them across the Channel in search of trouble. 

from "Douglas Bader" by Michael Evans
Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Bader-Heroes-Michael-Evans/dp/1909698121/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417771944&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+bader

Professor Tim Congdon talks about "The Road to Freedom" by Gerard Batten MEP

Get your copy of the book HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Freedom-How-Britain-Escape/dp/1910440027/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419016641&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+The+Road+to+Freedom%22+by+Gerard+Batten

The Turning Point in the Battle of Britain

Sunday 15th September, although nobody knew it at the time, was to be the defining day of the Battle of Britain. The early mist slowly cleared and although the light cumulus cloud was enough to produce a little rain in places, visibility remained good, with a gentle westerly wind that moved round to northwest as the day advanced.
At around 11.30 Göring launched the first wave of his morning attack of 100 or so aircraft, shortly to be followed by a further 150. It was a formidable force made up of Dornier Do 17s and Do 215s, escorted by Messerschmitt Bf 109s. They were flying at various heights between 15,000 feet and 26,000 feet.
Defenders were scrambled and for about 45 minutes a fierce  battle raged over east Kent and London. Even so, about 100 enemy bombers reached south and east London, with some actually being intercepted over the centre. Sixteen squadrons of 11 Group were initially involved, closely followed by five squadrons from 12 Group. Squadrons from 10 Group were also called in.
242 Squadron was ordered off from Coltishall at precisely 11.22 and flew down to Duxford, where according to the plan, they formed up with 310, 302, 19 and 611 Squadrons and headed south towards the action. For once the timing was right and they were in an ideal position with respect to height and the position of the sun.
Douglas led the Wing to patrol a flexible area over Gravesend. The three Hurricane squadrons, 242, 310 and 302 flew at around 25,000 feet, ready to meet the bombers, while the two Spitfire squadrons, 10 and 611, were a bit higher at between 26,000 and 27,000 feet, ready to deal with the fighters.
In a space between noon and 12.30, a total of between 150 and 200 individual combats took place in an area of sky roughly 8 miles long, 38 miles broad and between 4 and 6 miles high.
It has to be remembered these combats often took place at speeds of between 300 and 400 miles an hour. An enemy plane might have been intercepted over Hammersmith and destroyed over Dungeness. Many combats went as far as the French coast. Sgt J A Potter of 19 Squadron was involved in just such a chase, but unfortunately for him, having got that far he was shot down and ended up as a POW.
Douglas later commented that: “at one time you could see planes all over the place and the sky seemed full of parachutes. It was sudden death that morning for our fighters shot them to blazes”.
The 56 fighters of the Duxford Wing returned to base having claimed a total of 26 enemy aircraft destroyed, plus 8 probables and 2 damaged. There was hardly time to get their aircraft refuelled and grab a quick sandwich before they were ordered off again at 12 minutes past 2. Although the same five squadrons were involved, this time there were only 49 fighters rather than 56.

from "Douglas Bader" by Michael Evans
Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Bader-Heroes-Michael-Evans/dp/1909698121/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417771944&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+bader

NEW BOOK - The Battle of Towton

A book about the largest battle ever fought on English soil - the Battle of Towton, one of the key turning points in the Wars of the Roses. .
The murderous Wars of the Roses had already seen dukes, earls, lords and thousands of commoners butchered as two branches of the royal family struggled to gain firm control of the crown. The struggle came to a head at Towton, Yorkshire, where Edward Duke of York with 30,000 men faced Henry Duke of Somerset with 35,000. The battle that followed proved to be especially vicious as scores were settled and blood flowed like rivers. The result determined England’s history for a generation.
This book brings an exciting new look to the Wars of the Roses. The course of the campaign is given, but the emphasis is on the Battle itself and the men who fought there. There are detailed analyses of weapons, tactics and strategies, tactical diagrams explain how the troops formed up and moved, and a study of the commanders. The course of the battle is followed with the aid of maps, relating to the ground today. The aftermath of the battle, its effects and importance to the progress of the war are then described.
The “Bretwalda Battles” series has been running with increasing success as printed books and as ebooks for five years.

Contents
Chapter 1 The Wars of the Roses
Chapter 2 Leaders at Towton
Chapter 3 Men, Weapons and Tactics
Chapter 4 The Battle of Towton - First Day
Chapter 5 The Battle of Towton - Second Day
Chapter 6 Aftermath

About the Author
Leonard James is an author of military books. He comes from a military family that has fought in every major war since at least the Crimean War, and probably before that. His forebears were mostly cavalrymen, though his father served in the RAF. Leonard has made a particular study of battlefields in Britain, walking over dozens of them to get an eye for ground. He has also handled genuine and replica weapons to better understand the use of pre-modern weapons and the men who wielded them.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Towton-1461-Bretwalda-Battles/dp/1909698903/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418802093&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+towton

Douglas Bader tries to get his squadron equipped

Warrant Officer Bernard West had been engineering officer of 242 and Douglas decided to keep him. He sensed that Mr West, as he always called him, would be the linchpin and indispensable prop on which to build. West on the other hand knew that the relationship with his squadron commander must be based on total understanding and regard. In the same way that to Douglas his metal legs were something of an irrelevance, to Mr West the important things about Douglas were his attitude and his service credentials.

Bernard West was fiercely loyal to his squadron and he knew that somebody was going to have to sort it out and establish morale. He realised that Douglas would be an exacting and uncompromising commander, but was prepared to support him 250%. Something that Mr West realised from the start was that there would be big trouble if he didn't get 242's aircraft strength and serviceability on the top line,

The problems were immediate. The squadron had eighteen brand new Hurricane MkIs on its strength, but no spare parts and no proper sets of tools to work with. When Mr West reported this situation to Douglas the reaction was just as he predicted that it would be. In modern parlance Douglas "went ballistic".

He sent off the now famous signal to group headquarters, with a copy to Fighter Command HQ: "242 Squadron now operational as regards pilots but non-operational, repeat, non-operational as regards equipment."

It was only after he had sent the signals that he told his outraged station commander what he had done. Normal practice would have been to ask another squadron to lend a hand, but Douglas was not like that. This was his squadron and as far as he was concerned his needs were more important than any other squadron that might be waiting further up the line.

The response from Fighter Command came the same day. A squadron leader in charge of equipment phoned to argue that there were shortages in many units and 242 ought to borrow what was needed from other squadrons. Something of a shouting match developed that resulted in both phones being slammed down.

The AOC flew down to Coltishall to try and smooth things over and agreed to see what could be done. Before anything could be done Douglas received a summons to Fighter Command HQ at Bentley Priory for an interview with the C-in-C himself, Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding.

This could have meant the end of a promising career for Douglas, but although the C-in-C made it clear that he did not think much of Douglas’s signal, what really irked him was the supply officer's assertion that he, Dowding, would be furious at what Douglas had done. Dowding did not take kindly to other people predicting how he would or would not react, least of all a comparatively junior officer.

The outcome was that the offending squadron leader lost his job at Fighter Command, as did the station equipment officer at Coltishall. 242 Squadron received its requested equipment within 48 hours and became fully operational on 9th July 1940. 

From "Douglas Bader" by Michael Evans

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Bader-Heroes-Michael-Evans/dp/1909698121/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417771944&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+bader

AUTHOR INTERVIEW -Dr Lee Rotherham talks about The Discerning Gentleman's Guidebook to Britain's American Colonies

Get your copy HERE

Product Description

The Past, as they say, is Another Country. Now there is a guide book to North America as it was during Revolutionary Times. Written by Dr Lee Rotherham this book tells the modern reader everything they would need to know when visiting North America 250 years ago.
Written as if it were a guide book to be used by a visiting European, and illustrated, this book is the essential guidebook to Revolutionary America.
Satisfied user Charles James Fox says “A gentleman is taught never to run. He might make an exception when pursued by a band of Cree warriors after his scalp. And why should you be wary of accepting an invitation to a tea party in Boston, why might you want to find some fur; why are the rebel colonies rebelling; why should you watch your watch when you meet George Washington, and just what is the correct etiquette for using a dessert spoon in a log cabin? The essential visitor’s guide.”
So this handbook is part survival guide, part tome to assist in cultural acclimatisation, part aide-memoire to help manage expectations in what remains a frontier land.
The book contains added War of 1812 bicentenary flavouring and is being launched to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the writing of “The Star Spangled Banner”.

CONTENTS
Foreword by Charles James Fox
An Introduction for Tourists
Chapter 1 - Planning Your Visit
Chapter 2 - The Politics of Revolt
Chapter 3 - Information for Business Visitors
Chapter 4 - Culture and Social Mores
Chapter 5 - The Revolution at a Glance
Chapter 6 - Meet and Greet
Chapter 7 - Where to Visit
Appendix 1 - Pocket Timeline
Appendix 2 - A Word Before You Leave
Appendix 3 - Acknowledgements and Further Study
About the Author

About the Author
Dr Lee Rotherham is an historian with two postgraduate degrees on Québec. His survival skills were honed by idly wandering around Montréal during its worst winter on record. An army reservist, it’s thus appropriate that from his dealings with the Canadian Armed Forces he is a Member of the Order of Good Cheer/L’Ordre du Bon Temps. This is a Nova Scotia fraternity, originally set up by Samuel de Champlain, which commemorates the terrible winters of the first colonists and the social environment that got them through it. With beer, his accent betrays an alarming French Canadian twang.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Discerning-Gentlemans-Guidebook-Britains-American/dp/1909698806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418544135&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+discerning

August 1939 - Douglas Bader tries to get back into the RAF

Parallel to all this was the increase in the military might of Germany and as international tensions mounted, Douglas began to badger just about everyone he knew who could have the slightest influence in getting him reinstated in the RAF and back to flying again.

A great ally was his old friend Geoffrey Stephenson, who by now was a staff officer at Adastral House, home of the Air Ministry in London's Kingsway. Stephenson beavered away for Douglas behind the scenes and was a great help.

Thelma was dead against all this. She was horrified at the possibility of Douglas being shot down and trapped in a crashing aircraft because of his legs. Thelma's mother agreed with her. To her, what her dogmatic and aggressive son-in-law was proposing to do was both unnecessary and unreasonable. All that it was doing was causing Thelma endless turmoil and distress.

Douglas was resolute. He had always believed that if you wanted something badly enough, the way to get it was to go right to the top so he wrote to the Air Member for Personnel, Air Marshal Charles Portal.

On 31st August, days before the outbreak of war, Portal wrote a personal reply to Douglas. Although he told Douglas he was too busy to see him and that he was not able to employ him at the present time, in the event of war a new situation would arise and Douglas would almost certainly be used in a flying capacity, provided the doctors agreed.  

Although positive, in a guarded sort of way, this was still not enough for Douglas. What he was looking for was immediate acceptance and his next target was Air Vice-Marshall Fredrick Halahan, his old commandant from Cranwell. Halahan obviously remembered Douglas and wrote to the head of the medical board at the Air Ministry saying that in his opinion Bader was the sort of officer the service needed and if found fit, apart from his legs, he should immediately be sent to the Central Flying School and given a chance to prove himself.

from "Douglas Bader" by Michael Evans

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Bader-Heroes-Michael-Evans/dp/1909698121/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417771944&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+bader

NEW EBOOK - The Road to Freedom by Gerard Batten MEP

As Britain moves towards exit from the European Union, the author warns of a trap laid by the EU and how to avoid it. “The route to Brexit is a Gordian Knot of a problem that requires an Alexandrian solution,” he writes.
Brexit (British Exit) from the EU is moving up the political agenda, but few have looked at the mechanism by which it might be achieved and the problems involved.
The European Union’s process of ‘ever closer union’ is fashioned like the jaws of a shark. The teeth slant backwards. Once inside the mouth the only route is onwards down the gullet to digestion. Membership of the EU has been deliberately constructed over five decades and six treaties in order to make exit from the EU near impossible. It is a Gordian Knot of a problem that requires an Alexandrian solution.
Article 50 is designed to put the EU in a strong position to pressurise the would-be, leaving nation into accepting their terms of exit. This detrimental dog’s breakfast is hardly likely to be what the electorate have in mind when they vote in a referendum to leave the EU. Once the decision has been made then it is better to deliver the Alexandrian blow rather than endlessly fiddle with the strands.
In this book senior UKIP MEP Gerard Batten shows how the sword should be wielded to cut the Gordian Knot.

Foreword by Professor Tim Congdon

CONTENTS
Foreword
1. Introduction
2. The Article 50 trap
3. The problem of ‘vested rights’
4. The legal basis of unconditional withdrawal
5. Historic precedents
6. The exit plan
7. The transitional period
8. Conclusion
Appendix: ‘GSP Plus’ list of international conventions


About the Author

Gerard Batten was a member of the Anti-Federalist League 1992-1993 and a founder member of the UK Independence Party in 1993. He was the Party’s European Election Organiser in 1994 and the first Party Secretary (1994-1997). He has served on the UKIP National Executive Committee at different times. He has fought eleven different election campaigns for the Party over the years.

He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for London in 2004 and re-elected in 2009 and in 2014. He has written extensively on such subjects as Immigration, the Cost of the European Union, and the European Arrest Warranty and the creation of a European system of criminal law.

GET YOUR COPY HERE
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Freedom-Gerard-Batten-ebook/dp/B00NF2UXCK/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418371183&sr=1-2&keywords=road+to+freedom

This book is also available as a paperback. 

Douglas Bader - the Later Years

It was golf that brought Douglas to his second wife. He had met Joan Murray some years before when they were partnered in a golfing competition organised in support of the British Limbless Ex-Serviceman's Association. She had taken the place of Douglas’s original partner who had to drop out.Joan and Douglas were married quietly on 3rd January 1963 in a church near Coventry. The vicar, the Reverend Tom Knight, was yet another of Douglas’s friends. In a former life Tom Knight had been a Group Captain in charge of a bomber station. Like Douglas, Joan had a great interest in helping people with disabilities. In addition to her involvement with the British Limbless Ex-Serviceman's Association, she was also one of the original volunteer supporters of Riding for the Disabled, of which Douglas was an honorary life president.

Following their marriage Douglas and Joan received countless invitations to speak and to attend events. They continued to fulfil engagements all over the world although long journeys were now made by commercial airliners and not by private aircraft. In most cases the main purpose of their journey was to assist in the cause of the disabled and they continued to campaign vigorously for people with disabilities. Douglas was a perfect example of how a disability could be overcome and both knew that by meeting people with disabilities he could plainly demonstrate what was possible.

In June 1976 Douglas received a knighthood for his services to disabled people. This could have been a great embarrassment, because protocol dictated that one had to kneel while being dubbed with the sword. Douglas knew that this would be a recipe for disaster because he would certainly fall flat on his face. As a result he was given special dispensation from the Queen to receive his knighthood standing up.

Other awards were to follow.  Despite his charity work Douglas still found time to maintain his interest in aviation and in 1977 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

From "Douglas Bader" by Michael Evans

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Douglas-Bader-Heroes-Michael-Evans/dp/1909698121/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417771944&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+bader

 

NEW EBOOK - The Battle of Lewes 1264

A book about the bloody Battle of Lewes, fought in 1264 that was a key victory for the rebels under Simon de Montfort who sought to limit the powers of the king.
The sweeping victory of the rebels at Lewes had a profound effect on England. A Parliament was summoned that for the first time included commoners as well as nobles and clergy, the king was to be answerable to Parliament and to a Council of Nobles and government documents were to be published in English as well as in Latin.
The battle itself began on the downs northwest of the town when the rebels launched a surprise dawn assault on royal scouts about where the racecourse now stands. The fighting then spilled southward as the rebels advanced and ended outside the priory with total defeat for the forces of King Henry III and his son Edward (later Edward I.
This book brings an exciting new look to the medieval wars of England. The course of the war is given, but the emphasis is on the battle and the men who fought there. There are detailed analyses of weapons, tactics and strategies, tactical diagrams explain how the troops formed up and moved, and a study of the commanders. The course of the battle is followed with the aid of maps, relating to the ground today - much of which is little changed to the present day. The aftermath of the battle, its effects and importance to the progress of the war are then described.
The “Bretwalda Battles” series has been running with increasing success as printed books and as ebooks for five years.


Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 The Barons’ War
Chapter 2 Commanders at Lewes
Chapter 3 Men, Weapons and Tactics
Chapter 4 The Battle of Lewes
Chapter 5 Aftermath

About the Author
Local resident Maria Caulfield lives in the village of Falmer, just west of Lewes. She has long had an interest in local history and has been inspired by the great political reformer, Simon de Montfort, who won his great victory for the people of England at Lewes nearly eight centuries ago. She works as a Cancer Research nurse at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London specialising in the field of breast cancer research.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Lewes-1264-Bretwalda-Battles-ebook/dp/B00MG43TM4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418196219&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+lewes