A Crocus From Jerusalem

by Bill Todd

Fred Gubbins’s war was overshadowed by the big bloody battles of The Somme, Ypres and Passchendaele. A country boy born in the reign of Queen Victoria, Fred became a farm worker and later a gardener on a country estate before volunteering in the First World War.
He survived the sinking of the troopship Transylvania in a U-boat attack and marched with General Allenby’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force through the Holy Land to capture Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks.
On December 21, 1917, he was killed in action just outside the city. The battalion diary records hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets, rifle butts, entrenching spades and fists. In his last letter home to his sister Irene Fred sent a dried crocus. He was 19 years old. A Crocus From Jerusalem is Fred’s story. All proceeds from this centenary tribute go to the Not Forgotten Association.

ebook

Published November 30, 2017

About the author

I’ve spent most of my working life as a journalist on local and national newspapers.
You meet a lot of people, see things, learn stuff. For a crime writer, it’s a plot factory.
One treasured memory was lunching with colleagues when the bar filled with agitated policemen.
“Who’s he?” said a CID man, pointing.
A good friend didn’t like his tone and announced in her best Lady Bracknell voice, “He’s the editor of the local paper!”
The copper said, “I don’t care who the hell he is. He looks like the guy who just did the bank up the road. How long’s he been here?”
Luckily, the barman provided my alibi.
Before journalism I tried my hand at odd jobs including furniture removals (watch out for the flat-packs, they tend to pack flat when lifted!), photography, teaching and running a magazine group.
I’ve done quite a bit of travel writing. It’s not all cocktails under the palm trees but it is a fantastic job that’s taken me to more than 40 countries, from the white wastes of Arctic Finland to the deserts of Namibia.
People often ask my favourite place. In an age of globalisation, many destinations look the same but Iceland and Namibia are like stepping onto another planet. Go if you can.
I’ve enjoyed a long love affair with Western Crete. The mountains, coastline, food and people make me wonder if I lived there in some previous life. I just have to watch the waxed wings on a hot day.
I was delighted and surprised to receive the Ed Lacy travel award in 2007.
Another interest is my family tree. I’ve traced the ancestors back to William of Byfield, a farmer in 1600s Northamptonshire, just down the road from Shakespeare.
I love maps. They might seem old fashioned in the age of GPS but they tell stories, make promises. I have a ragbag collection of more than 2,000.
I’m also a fan of interesting cheeses, good beer and wilderness. They’re like Marmite, you’re an empty place person or you’re not.
I have written four full-length crime thrillers and a book of short stories featuring Danny Lancaster, a wounded Afghan veteran turned private investigator. They are:
The Wreck Of The Margherita
Death Squad
Rough Diamond
Rock Hard
Gargoyle Pixie Dog
My sixth Danny Lancaster - GODLEFE'S CUCKOO - will be published in March 2018.
I’ve also written three non-fiction books. GUNNER is based on my father's World War Two diary, photos and postcards from Normandy to Hamburg.
PIGTAIL PILOT is the tragic story of Barbara Gubbins, a talented young woman who was nearly the RAF’s first female pilot.
A CROCUS FROM JERUSALEM is the story of a country lad soldiering in 1917 Palestine.
If you fancy a chat I’m easy to find.

Reviews

[David Gilchrist · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this, a great if a short read.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but fascinating read, which I very much enjoyed it is an interesting retelling of a young soldiers short experience of world war 1