From Oaks to Avocets: Memoirs

The author recalls his days as a young boy before World War 2, the countryside around his home in the North Warwickshire old market town of Atherstone. He describes his school days and as an errand boy during those war-time years, and the effects the war had on children of that era. He recalls his time throughout his life in scouting, and how it all began in his own town, his life as a teenager in the ATC, the two years he served in the Fleet Air Arm, and the wide experience he gained from these activities. His seventeen years as a local Insurance Man and his total of 42 years with the same Company, gives an insight into the the world of insurance during that time. His stories and anecdotes throughout the book keep the reader amused and interested The 'Out of Atherstone' chapter completes his story, telling of his moves to towns in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire. Finally, he describes how he took an active interest in the work of the RSPB when he retired. It is a book full of nostalgia, humour and achievements, and as well as a portrait of his own family, it is an historic record of the town he knew so well and the times in which he lived.

About the Author :
Born in Atherstone, a small old market town in North of the county of Warwickshire, John Walling spent 42 years of his working life in Insurance. Previous to that he served 2 years in the Fleet Air Arm as an Air Mechanic between 1945 and 1947. He also spent almost forty years in the Scout Movement. Born in 1928 he had always enjoyed writing which he did for a hobby and in later life he wrote and published bulletins for a number of organisations. After beginning to research the interesting life of his German grandfather, he was prompted to write about his own life in his first book entitled From Oaks to Avocets as a record of what life was like for him in the middle of the 20th century, after wishing that his ancestors had done likewise. His second book was a novel inspired by his fellow passengers on a train journey to Glasgow when in the Fleet Air Arm. In addition to the main murder mystery set in Glasgow, he included five short stories in this book, A Parcel of Diamonds, all inspired by various events that had happened during his lifetime. While researching his grandfather's life story for his fourth book, Coming Home, a novel based on fact, he wrote his third, The Internment and Treatment of German Nationals During the 1st World War, both books involving interesting visits to the Isle of Man and Germany and many other towns and cities.