Beach to the Baltic

This humorous, thought-provoking and poignant story shows what it was truly like for those brave young men who answered the call in 1939. The semi-autobiographical, historical novel was taken from the memoirs of a rifleman who served during World War Two in a London Battalion of The Rifle Brigade. It covers a six-year period from enlistment to demobilisation and gives a 'fly on the wall' view of a conscripted soldier, and all that that entails. As well as the cut and thrust of battles and the brutality of war it also focuses on the gloomiest days for Britain, when she and her subjugated allies stood alone against the might of the German war machine.Born and bred in Camberwell, south of the River Thames, our hero Ronald Deakin relishes the chance to do his bit for King and Country, just as his father and uncle did in 1914. The day after his eighteenth birthday this chapel boy visits his local recruiting office, rather than wait for his call-up papers. Youngest of two sons he dotes on his widowed mother and loves the city of his birth and the Londoner's carefree outlook on life, a facet that comes through strongly in his story.His attitude to war changes dramatically once he experiences the horrors of Normandy and the bloody battles that follow. Sadly, many of his friends succumb during the bitter struggle, and he must draw on hidden reserves to help him survive, mentally as well as physically. Watching his friends fall around him fills him with immense sorrow and gives him much to reflect on. But as time goes on this young man grows in stature, confidence and an unquenchable desire to survive his war.
About the Author: Albert Talbot wrote this account of his experiences during the Second World War as a way of exorcising his demons. Like many who served during conflict he was troubled by what he had seen and done and his subsequent return to civilian life was far from easy. When he was called up in May 1940 he was already married and working as a menswear shop manager. He returned to civilian life in January 1946. Being thirty-two at the time, married and now with a four-year-old daughter he would have been entitled to early release. Over the next thirty-three years he managed several shops in and around Birmingham and on his retirement set about recording his wartime memories in this novel. Without doubt this story is a factual account of his war service and features a motorised battalion, mainly made up of Londoners, whose war took them from Normandy to the Baltic Coast. His use of army slang, East End dialect and Cockney rhyming slang gives it a certain earthy, humorous quality, and his admiration for those who bore so much during the London blitz makes it a rather unique story. Also, his liberal use of names and nicknames was done to bring the story alive and to give it that human touch, making each character appear real and vulnerable. His manuscript lay hidden for many years until it came to light in 2008 when the family home was being cleared. From then on it languished, unread, until September 2015, when his son started editing his father's story. This realistic, historical account of a soldier's experiences during such a horrific but memorable period in our history was finally published in February 2017.