Seelőwe Nord

As reported in todays York & County Press :: http://bit.ly/c5X81g

A FORMER soldier from York who fought in Afghanistan has published a war novel describing what might have been if the Germans had invaded North and East Yorkshire in 1940.

Andy Johnson, 40, was the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards before retiring from the Army last March.

The father-of-two was deployed on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, and recently received a Meritorious Service Medal for his exemplary service over a quarter of a century.

Now he has used his first-hand experience of infantry warfare to write a novel giving a graphic account of war in North and East Yorkshire.

“Operation Sealion (Seelöwe) was the German plan for a British invasion in 1940,” he said. “And in my novel, the invasion actually takes place.

“But instead of it falling on the south coast of England as was expected, the Germans land in the North, on the east coast of Yorkshire between Scarborough and Skipsea.”

The Germans then fight their way south west through Holme-on-Spalding Moor in an attempt to cross the River Ouse between Selby and Goole, with a final battle in the vicinity of Church Fenton, Cawood and Riccall.

The book contains historical figures such as Winston Churchill, General Alan Brooke and the German Commander of the SS Totenkopf Division, Theodor Eicke, as well as many fictional characters.

Mr Johnson, who was educated at Dringhouses Primary School and the former Ashfield Secondary Modern School, in York, said: “Seventy years ago this year we were on the brink of invasion and almost lost our freedom.

“In the modern world, we are fighting wars that people can’t identify with, but they are equally vital to the future of democracy worldwide, and my book is dedicated to the officers and soldiers of Task Force Helmand.”

Mr Johnson, who is now a youth worker living in Staffordshire, will donate 20 per cent of his profits to the Army Benevolent Fund and Casualty Fund of the Coldstream Guards.

He said: “I took my unit to Helmand in 2007-8 and they are back there now. Five of my old friends have been killed since they arrived in October and a dozen more have lost limbs. This is my way of giving something back to my old unit.”

The book, which is called “Seelöwe Nord: The Germans are Coming”, can be bought online from amazon.co.uk and will be available from most book shops in the next fortnight.