Work in Progress Update and tour of a Lancaster Bomber

On November 25, 2023, I visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Port Hope, Ontario. As part of my Work In Progress (WIP), I went to research the WWII Lancaster Bomber there, and was given an incredible personal tour of the plane by the flight crew. Thank you to them for their time and expertise. It's an amazing museum near Hamilton, Ontario, largely run by volunteers. Go visit and support them. Lest we forget.

The research was for my middle-grade book about WWII, and my father's experience as a boy working at a Lancaster bomber aircraft factory in 1941. The Canada Council kindly gave me a Research and Creation grant for this book, and a Letter of Introduction about my research. I have such gratitude for this remarkable opportunity. The experts at the Warplane Heritage Museum were delighted to show me around, and I spent a long time talking with them about war, the aircraft, and the aircrew who flew them. It was a difficult day, to be honest. 

IMAGE: Bomber Command Memorial, Hyde Park Corner, London UK

The first Lancaster heavy bombers rolled off the British assembly lines in September, 1941. Over 50,000 RAF air crew died in the Lancaster bombers between 1941-1945, mostly over Europe, and the average age for air crew was 22 years. Younger than my son is now. 

The British bombed at night. 

As I sat in the cramped cabin of the Lancaster, I suddenly understood how dangerous, terrifying, and claustrophobic the night bomber's job was. I had nothing but sorrow for the bombed civilians, and the young men whose job it was to drop bombs from 20,000 feet onto European factories, bridges, and unseen enemies below. It was the first time bombs had been used to such a scale in war, and it was controversial. Experts are still undecided if the RAF bombing raids were successful in bringing a faster end to the war with Nazi Germany. 

UPDATE: THE WAR LANTERN, my middle-grade book is now finished, has a publisher and a PUBLICATION DATE of October, 2026. I tried to make the story focus on the sorrow of war while still allowing the characters to be children (17, 15, and 14 years old), who like dancing, music, and birthday cake. Through the connection between an English boy and a German girl on either side of the English Channel, and a young RAF rear gunner, my characters are still just teenagers, and they're more alike than they are different.

IMAGE: The Lancaster Bomber Rear Gunner Turret. Tiny, cramped, freezing, and deadly, the rear gunner in a Lancaster bomber had a low chance of survival on each bombing raid (as low as 50/50). Sitting in a bubble at the tail end of the huge aircraft, they were easily shot by Luftwaffe fighter planes, and were often killed.

It's been 81 years since the send of WWII, but sadly this story is more relevant than ever. I'll keep readers updated on the cover, the title, origin story and more once the manuscript goes back to the publisher. This has been the most difficult write of my life,

and I have to say that it's a relief to be finished the job of writing this book. It's hard to be constantly engrossed for 3+ years in war, war, war. Especially in the world as it is right now, endlessly at war it seems. Also, the layering of research, the horror of war, creating a workable narrative using family history, and one for younger readers (ages 10+), has tested all my skill to the max. SO MUCH respect for historical fiction writers, for any age of reader!

My newest book is out now, THE LOVE SONG OF MR. BYRD, and it couldn't be more different from my war story. Check it out: a short, classically gentle story about love and friendship one summer, for ages 6-9, or a wonderful all-ages read-aloud.

For more posts about my WIP and research on the Lancaster Bomber.

 

Writing for children on the subject of war ...

Bomber Command Memorial
London, 2023

 

My current Work in Progress (WIP), is a middle-grade story set in England in World War II, inspired by lived experience of family members. 

UPDATE: It is called THE WAR LANTERN and is coming October, 2026! Pre-order with a special MOST ANTICIPATED book deal here.

I have travelled to England to research this story, thank you to the Canada Council for their generous Research and Creation grant which allowed me to visit archives in London, Yate, Gloucester, Bristol, Chipping Sodbury, and elsewhere. I have written in this space about my research trip.

I have also recently visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario, where I received a very intense tour of a Lancaster Bomber. Thank you to them for their time and expertise.

It was quite an experience, being inside a Lancaster. 

It was much narrower, less sturdy, harder to move around in, more claustrophobic, than I had imagined. It was like being inside a metal dragonfly: all powerful wings, and a slender, long, paper-thin sheaf of a body. It really brought WAR home to me, the pinnacle of human technology at the time (1941), the Lancaster Bomber was death from above and was also the final end for over 55,000 allied airmen, most of them barely out of their teens. I visited the Bomber Command Memorial at Hyde Park in London UK too, more than once, incredibly moved.

Lancaster Bomber,
Hamilton, Ontario

During the course of research for this book, not one but two wars have taken hold in the world. It would be easy to stop writing this book because frankly it's overwhelming, all the death and destruction right now and the horrible terrors of WWII. But I can't stop, because I think children today may need age-appropriate books about war more than ever, which is also incredibly sad. In the 80 years since the end of WWII, very little has changed.

One promise to myself, the next book I write is going to be about something sweet and funny! (More soon!)

Also, please note that my book OCULUM ECHO (available now), is also about children surviving a war, as well as climate collapse. It has had fabulous reviews and sadly timely, I feel it may be another important war read for kids.

Spitfire and V2 rocket,
Imperial War Museum, London

So, here are 6 things I've learned about writing for children (ages 10+) on the subject of war:

1. Less gore, more helpers. I have avoided graphic details about the dead and dying, but have not left out the fact that people die, or the fact that there are helpers even in the worst situations.

2. First person narrative can help control the fear. My main characters tell their story in first person, which gives readers the sense that the characters CAN cope, they DO cope, and we as readers can and do cope along with them.

3. One best buddy who lives. Not everyone dies.

4. Balance. No one wins in this story, but there are many connections and similarities between the characters, borne out through research. We are all more similar than we are different. As E.M Forster said, only connect.

At the Archives
in Gloucester

5. Historical technology is cool. Specifics are better than generalizations. I haven't shied away from using the exact WWII term for things. Old technology shows us how far we've come, too.

6. Old patterns of speech don't age well! Old terminology seems fine, but language and idiom gets old fast, both writing and reading it. As much as possible, I try to keep my language timeless, neutral, with very few (or no) period-specific or accent-imitating touches. I would choose "Bye" to " Cheerio", or "Hello" to " 'ello." There are enough barriers to reading, why make it harder?

Hope you find this helpful. I'll try to do more "writing things I've learned" this year. Go forth and write, uncover the truth as you see it, and tell those stories. One day soon perhaps the last war story will have been told. 

The Blue Door, a World War II Air Raid Shelter

Today, Remembrance Day 2023, I share this picture of the entrance to a WWII air raid shelter. 

In 1941, this was the site of Parnall's Aircraft Factory, (Yate, UK), which manufactured and tested Lancaster bomber gun turrets. Today it's the Whirlpool factory, thank you to them for the tour. 

My father was working at Parnall's on February 27, 1941, when the factory was bombed by a single Heinkel He III bomber, in an unusual daylight raid. My father survived by diving under his lathe, there was no time to run to the shelters since the sirens blew almost at the instant the bombs dropped.

He was 15 years old; 53 coworkers died in the raid. Sadly timely and universal, this blue door reminds me that no child should experience war, or fight, or die, in one.

UPDATE: THE WAR LANTERN, a book for middle-grade readers based on the Parnall's bombing, will be published Oct. 2026. More here. 

 Photo: Author taking notes at the factory site. (Hair braided for safety). Photo courtesy Rich McDonough.

Release the Jets of September

CF18, RCAF

I live in a big city, beside a big lake. At the end of every summer there is a large summer fair which goes on for two weeks, and ends with a three-day airshow.

The airshow started about 10 minutes ago.

I know this because my house rocked and shook like a ragdoll as a mighty engine roared past, the Doppler effect making the roar sound exactly, and hilariously, like a movie. I ducked. I covered my ears. I thought of Top Gun. Apocalypse Now. Every WWII movie I've ever seen. You think a few things at once when a plane like that roars overhead. Your rational mind says, "Oh, the airshow." Your animal mind says, "RUN". Your rational mind kicks in again saying, "My, but that IS loud." Your animal mind says, "WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNING?" and so on.

Your body quakes, and you once again thank your luck that you've never been in a war zone, and that you live in a relatively peaceful and secure country.

It was likely a CF-18, the Canadian Air Forces plane of choice. A powerful noisemaker for a nation of peacekeepers. Wow. Definitely not a noise that says, "Be calm. We mean you no harm," regardless of your good intentions.

One September day a few years ago, the airshow planes started up. I was walking along a main street, most others around me also doing the "Oh, the airshow" thought bubble as the massive engines roared overhead. A few of us even stopped to look up, but we all knew what it was. Well, not everyone. One family I walked past was quaking and cowering in terror. I stopped to try to help. They looked at me for answers which I couldn't deliver in their own tongue. There was a grandfather, a father and mother and three little kids, all clinging together in the busy downtown street in the middle of the sidewalk. The children were crying, the adults clearly traumatized and not understanding what was going on. They looked at me with real pain and fear on their faces.

I felt so awful for them. I stopped and tried to help, saying, "It's really okay. It's just the airshow. Everything is alright. It's supposed to be fun." I think my tone helped a little, but we didn't understand each other so I couldn't be sure. I said a few times, "It's okay. You're safe," but I'm not sure they believed me.

Sir Hugh Dowding

My family comes from a long line of military types. If you are a WWII buff, you might recognize my last name. It is the same as Sir Hugh Dowding, who was Winston Churchill's Commander of the RAF from 1939-1942. A crusty wartime hero and also a relative of mine, he was my grandfather's cousin (or second-cousin). My father built RAF gun turrets from 1941-1945, and survived a bombing at work at age 15. All of my mother's brothers were also in the RAF during WWII; one a Lancaster bomber upper mid gunner, one a plane engineer in Egypt, and one a decorated Spitfire pilot.

That last uncle also died in a Battle of Britain airshow in England in 1952.

I recognize the tremendous bravery it takes to fight on after exhaustion sets in and all odds are against you. I appreciate the sacrifice my father made as a teenager, and how clever and talented my uncle must have been to fly a Spitfire with the RAF and not die until after the war.

I also know that airshows terrify some people, and only someone who has never been terrorized by war could call it fun.

Starred Review for THE WAR LANTERN in School Library Journal

 

I'm incredibly honoured that THE WAR LANTERN has received a Starred Review in School Library Journal! Thank you to my amazing publisher, DCB and to the SLJ.

More from the SLJ Review: "As the novel progresses, the three storylines gradually intersect and overlap in deeply satisfying ways that may prompt rereads ... a well-rounded and immersive portrait of life during World War II."

THE WAR LANTERN is inspired by a bombing in England in 1941 that my father survived at age 15, while at work at a local aircraft factory, and research took me to England and to museums across Canada. This middle-grade book told over 24-hours is the most challenging writing project I've ever tackled; historical fiction for children is extremely demanding (and kudos to all who do it). Thank you to everyone who has helped me on this 7-year journey, and thank you to my father for sharing his survival story with me one night in 1996.

I'll add more on writing, researching, and creating THE WAR LANTERN in this space soon.

For now you'll find ALL CURRENT POSTS ON THE WAR LANTERN here.

The Lancaster Bomber at Canadian
Warplane Heritage Museum, Hamilton, ON

Thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous Research and Creation grant, and to the Ontario Arts Council for their support of this project.