H E Bates
his time as an RAF officer
Date: Sunday 21 April 2pm
Venue: Bede House
Tickets: £12.50 (includes refreshments with a WW2 theme)
On sale from Sidey Design, Market Square, Higham Ferrers from 1 March
Come along in 1940s clothes to enter into the spirit of the talk!
HE Bates - his time as an RAF officer
Victoria Wicks will speak about her grandfather’s time in the RAF. During WW2, H E Bates volunteered for military service, and following discussions with the Director of RAF public relations, he was commissioned as an officer to write about the war in a way that exemplified the “troubled business of war in a way that will bring the war and its participants vividly, excitedly and even painfully alive.”
Bates produced twenty four stories frequently portraying the lives of the pilots, without actually being a pilot himself. The novelist Anthony Burgess later wrote that the Bates’ stories were not jingoistic but were “low-keyed as to sentiment, far from flag waving, essentially human and quietly compassionate”.
The stories were published under the pseudonym “Flying Officer X” and some of the aircrews within the stories can actually be traced to real life people, such as the Czech ace, Karel Kuttlewascher. and Romualdus Marcinkus.
H.E.Bates: The Man Who Made Pop Larkin - Insight Talk
Victoria is also talking at Milton Keynes Theatre on Friday 15 March at 11.30am.
Find out more about the man
Where will the profits from this event go?
Profits from this event will support The Friends of St Mary’s current project ─ the restoration of the Bede House bell cot, with a view to it being rung once again.
The Friends of St Mary’s is a secular organisation dedicated to the preservation of the magnificent Grade 1 listed buildings that have dominated the life of Higham Ferrers for 800 years:
St Mary's Church
Chantry Chapel
Bede House.
Since our foundation in 2013 we have completed two major projects:
the restoration of the World War One Memorial and creation of a Memorial Garden
the reopening of the Midland Road gateway complete with a new oak gate and a user-friendly pathway to the Bede House.
See our website to find out more about what we do and how to join us.