A schoolboy's wartime letters - Geoffrey Iley

This funny, fascinating journal follows the development of a boy and his changing attitudes during WW II from its outbreak in September 1939 to victory in the summer of 1945. It is a memoir based on the original letters, around a hundred and ninety in total, written by the author to his parents and carefully preserved over the years. There are also several contemporary photographs. He was an only child and full of his own selfish needs, vanity, hypochondria, prejudices and unquestioning patriotism. The letters carry strong echoes of Just William and Adrian Mole . 'Health and Safety' was nowhere in sight! There is also a wealth of information about childhood games, hobbies, mock battles, sport, school life and wartime concerns.Extract read by actor Bernard Cribbins as part of BBC concert to mark 70 years since VE Day. The concert aired on BBC 1 and Radio 2 was a mixture of live musical performances and readings from famous actors and actresses of various accounts from the second world war.Geoffrey Iley: "It was a truly amazing experience for me - and even more so for the wonderful veteran servicemen who were able to attend. I still have no idea how the producers stumbled across my book and found that excerpt. I thought that Bernard Cribbins did a really brilliant job with the reading - a former Doctor Who! It doesn't get much better than this."