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| Glen Hancock, Author |
Charley Goes to War
Nova Scotia author, Glen Hancock, launched a new memoir on November 12, 2004.
Charley Goes to War is an account of the Second World War told through Hancock's experiences as an
RCAF airman. He takes us from the streets of Wolfville, NS, on September 4, 1939, to Canada’s training camps, from there
to his first operation out of No. 408 Goose Squadron until the final defeat of Nazi Germany and his return to Canada in 1945.
Hancock’s
memoir maintains a refreshing balance between the headline events of the war and daily life in training and on air force bases.
The feel of the uniforms, the specifics of insignia, RCAF lingo and all the nuts and bolts of serving queen and country are
made tangible in these pages. Hancock also details the less talked about highlights of volunteering: the perks of first class
train travel, the guilty pleasure of being able to see the Canadian countryside and the sites of English and European history,
as well as the opportunity to attend the University of Edinburgh.
On his often interrupted journey toward becoming
an airman, Hancock trained at bases across Canada including Prince Rupert, Brandon, Ottawa and Torbay, before travelling by
boat from New York to Scotland in 1944 and eventually operating out of No.408 Goose Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire.
Charley
Goes to War combines a wizened retrospective on the highlights of the Second World War with a sharply individual sense
of what it meant at the time. Hancock describes the formation of his bomber crew, operational procedure, his first "sortie,"
the equipment and everyday life on the squadron in a style both humorous and elegant.
Despite the atmosphere
and ideologies upon which the war was based, Hancock recognises that many who fought were not entirely cognisant of the holocaust
while it was going on. In a chapter entitled "The Horror of Belsen Death Camp" Hancock relives the trip he made to Belsen
immediately after its liberation in 1945, his witness of the Nazi’s extermination project at the heart of the struggle
to which he and so many other men and women were devoted.
This book is a Smyth-sewn paperback and features 30
black and white reproductions.
Glen Hancock has worked as a journalist, editor and columnist. After serving
overseas with the RCAF in the Second World War, he worked for many years with Imperial Oil. Hancock was involved in the formation
of the School of Journalism at the University of Kings College in Halifax. His previous books include My Real Name is Charley:
Memoirs of a Grocer’s Clerk (Gaspereau Press 2000), History of Acadia University and Nova Scotians and
the Houses They Live In. He lives in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
Glen will give a reading at the Halifax Public Library,
5381 Spring Garden Road, in Nova Scotia on Friday, December 3rd, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
On Saturday, December 18th,
he joins Jonathan Campbell for a book-signing at Coles Book Store in the County Fair Mall (9256 Commercial Street) New Minas,
NS, from 1 - 3 p.m.
Purchase Charley Goes to War at your local bookstore for $27.95 Can / $22.95 US.
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Giv'er Atlantic Canada!
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