Legacies Of The Past by Neil Wilson

Char : Imagine you are going to sign up to fight in WW1…..how do you justify that to family and yourself?

…to escape from British weather
…for adventure
…to go to France
…to eat French food, drink French wine, and meet French women!
..to find out what battle is really like
..to exact revenge on the Germans for what they did to poor Belgium
..to experience the camaraderie of the army
..for the sunshine!
..to get medals
..to receive regular pay and meals
..to boost self-confidence – and so appeal more to the girls back home
..to boast about exploits to family and friends
..to wear a smart uniform
..to learn about guns and cannon

Char : Imagine you’ve had an amputation as a result of injury in WW1….describe your reactions

Crikey! I am in a fix. The bullet wound in my right hand went septic – a nasty mess indeed – so thumb and index finger had to be amputated. I cannot write now – what shall I do? Dear old George is writing this down for me but I can’t go back to work in Fleet Street dictating everything. One cocky lad said just use my left hand but he was not to know that polio made that rather clumsy and weak years ago. I could learn to type with my remaining fingers but I suppose I am in shock realising that I will never again be able to just pick up a pen and write furiously away – so no more quick-fire reports in the daily newspapers. I’ll have to fall back on stories for magazines where there is no deadline for submissions but I’ve never written fiction before, though Alec tells me there’s a great tutor in creative writing in some God forsaken town in the North called Hebden Bridge. Apparently this tutor is a lady! And has a funny name – something like Shar Narch!