Page 7 - The Spirit of Christmas 1940

The Spirit of Christmas 1940

carrying out a counter-offensive at the Battle of Delville Wood.
He was mortally wounded on 31st August 1916, finally dying of
his wounds the following day.

So, learning that I had a great, great uncle has filled me with
tremendous pride but I can’t help feeling he has been somewhat
forgotten. Of course, he is just one soldier out of thousands upon
thousands that remain in France but he is a distant relative and
hopefully, this book will keep his memory alive.

Secondly, is the station the story is set in. Although I had a
typical Victorian style London train station in mind, it was hard to
picture the scenes unfolding without being able to take in an actual
station. That was until we visited the Great Western Railway
Station in Kidderminster. OK, it wasn’t in London but it was
beautifully set and almost exactly as I imagined it.

We have spent many hours at the GWR station just taking in the
inspiration which has made writing this story so much easier. I
must also say a huge thanks to the staff at the station who have
inspired many of the charaters in this book. I wondered if the
same spirit that existed at Kidderminster was a true reflection of
what life was really like back during the war. Just a few hundred
yards from GWR Kidderminster is the towns main station with
the usual humdrum of the ratrace of the noughties. It’s cold,
unfriendly and very impersonable. But just a few feet away you
step into a world where you find hope and happiness. I have to
suggest a trip there for you all. It’s truly a wonderful day out’

Between William Snow and GWR Kidderminster, the story
just about tells itself. These are the foundations of The Spirit of
Christmas 1940. Everything else you read of course is fiction but
do bear in mind the reality that exist within the story. Before we
embark on our journey, I’d like to finish this acknowledgement
with the inscription on great uncle Williams grave stone. I feel it’s
kind of fitting for our story.

‘TO LIVE IN HEARTS WE LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE’

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