What’s Past is Prologue
This week marks the anniversary of the first combat flight for the “Night Witches” – the young women who flew for the Soviet Union in World War II as part of the 588th Night Bomber regiment (later honoured as the 46th Guards Regiment). I was absolutely delighted to be asked by Suzanne Hill to join her for a live radio interview on Sunday on her show Nightlife for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney, to talk about the remarkable achievements of these pilots. We overran the estimated time and spoke for over half an hour! The segment was recorded as a podcast, so you can listen to it here:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/nightlife/night-witches-soviet-world-war-ii-nazi/106796840
This also marks my professional debut as a sportscaster (R O T F L) but fortunately or unfortunately, the opening has been cut out of the podcast in which I enthused about the Tartan Army and Scotland’s Saturday night win against Haiti in the World Cup in Boston!
Speaking of pilots and World War II, there’s STILL A CHANCE to join Sherri L. Smith and me for our Reader’s and Writers Historical Fiction Tour of World War II Kent, England (11-17 October 2026). We had planned for 15 June 2026 to be our final registration day, but we’ve still got spaces we would like to fill, so we’re extending the deadline to 15 July and it’s not too late to register! The details and registration links are here:
https://www.sherrilsmith.com/readers-and-writers-tour-wwii-kent
The 1943 jeep belongs to my brother-in-law, who lives not far from Canterbury. Viewings might be available during the Kent trip.