Seelőwe Nord

Well, as ever, it’s been a busy month. In addition to doing a couple of short notice book signings, doing some voluntary work and attending various veterans events in the build up to Remembrance Sunday, I’ve also been getting on with writing the third novel. Two of the six chapters of that novel are now complete which means that I am (currently!) on track to finish the book and have it in print for early summer 2012. I’m keeping the title of the new novel under wraps for now, but suffice to say that this latest outing will take us into the late-war period in North-West Europe. As usual it will be a mix of fact and fiction and will be heavy on battle-action sequences.

In anticipation of the book being finished on time, I recently went ahead with the photo-shoot for the front cover. On a cold and somewhat blustery day in the Yorkshire countryside, I met up with some British World War II re-enactors from the 2^nd Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment society and went snap happy with the camera. The main photographer and I took dozens of photos using different scenarios, and consequently we now have the extremely difficult job of picking the two best images for use on the book cover. Below is a small selection of photos that we took on the day. Please note that all these photographs are Copyright A Johnson / 2 East Yorks Re-enactors.

The picture above is a little group photo of the ten members of the 2^nd East Yorks who turned out for the shoot. In addition to their standard infantry equipment, they also came armed with a PIAT, Bren Gun, and with a Wilys Jeep in tow!

Above is one of many shots that we took using this particular vignette. I based it on some similar photos I have seen of the Canadians in Normandy. You get a couple things going on in this photo to give it an intense feel; the Bren Gun in action, a man helping an injured comrade, and of course the NCO in mid-flow of issuing orders. You also get a cracking profile of the distinctive Bren Gun.

This shot gives you a side profile of all the group lined out in a fire-base, with both the PIAT and Bren Gun in full view, with the NCOs discussing tactics in the mid-centre of the frame. You also get good shots of the Sten Gun and the Lee Enfields being used. This shot also shows off the Tactical Recognition Flashes on the sleeves and helmets of the troops.

Finally, here is another one of my favourite shots, with a good close up of the gun team. The No.2 for the Bren has his ‘spike’ bayonet fixed, just to give an extra item of interest for the viewer. All in all, we are going to have a difficult job choosing the final two images, but that is a good position to be in. Once the final decision has been made and the book has gone to print, I will post some of the other images that we captured on the day. For now though, I have run out of distractions and must now get my head down and get some writing done.

Finally, just in case you haven’t yet got your copy of Thunder in May, Soldier Magazine has five signed copies on offer as competition prizes in their December issue. Remember too that both Thunder in May and Seelowe Nord are both available on Kindle, as well as in Paperback format. Looking at how busy I am in the next couple of weeks, this could well be the last post before Christmas, so I would just like to take this opportunity to thank my readers for all of their loyal support and kind comments over the last year and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year. As ever, keep low – move fast J

AJ