Simon Hepworth
AUTHOR

Simon Hepworth

Literature & Fiction | History
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My main interest, and the basis for the majority of my writing, is the history of Bomber Command in World War Two. The aircrew members had an average age of 22 and nearly half of those who served in the Command between 1939 and 1945 lost their lives. That is a staggering amount of lost youth; 55573 men from all over the Commonwealth as well as numerous other men and women in supporting areas of the RAF. The topic is controversial in the minds of some, even after seven decades, but I leave the ethics and morality of area bombing to others. My first non-fiction book, 'Striking Through Clouds', is the operational diary of a Bomber Command squadron, telling the story of its war day by day. I have a personal interest in the unit, 514 Squadron RAF, as my great uncle served as a Flight Engineer with them in 1944, tragically losing his life at the age of twenty. When I tried to research the squadron's history, there wasn't one, so I had to write it. The war diary is entirely factual, but can lack the human side of any unit's story. Having published 'Striking Through Clouds', I then set about producing a narrative history of 514 Squadron, 'Nothing Can Stop Us'. This included personal accounts from veterans and many more photographs. The book was published on VE Day 2015 and is regarded by veterans and their families, along with the only museum dedicated to 514 Squadron, as the definitive history of the unit, an accolade of which I am very proud. My debut novel, 'Late Shift' was a paranormal comedy crime drama, a genre guaranteed to confuse the most studious of librarians. Set in the Afterlife, and told from the point of view of a recently-murdered cop, the book sets police humour in a totally fictitious context, so that no one could possibly get upset. In truth, it was hugely enjoyable to write; few books give us the opportunity to see the Grim Reaper as a pleasant hard-working chap who has to delegate all the griefy stuff to his staff. I just ask readers to suspend their disbelief... Having covered the genres of Bomber Command and ghost stories, I realised that there are very few ghost stories in the context of Bomber Command. My second fictional work, 'The Dark Part of the Sky', is a collection of five paranormal short stories, all set in Bomber Command in World War Two. As a matter of policy, all my books are available from Amazon in print, as e-books and will eventually appear in audio format. The latter is very important to me as I have been assisted by veterans and their families so realise that the surviving aircrew are, all too often, unable to see clearly enough to read the history they created. Without them, there would have been no such books. My next book, which I am currently writing, combines the themes of aviation and crime investigation. It is the true account of the destruction of a BEA Comet 4B airliner in 1967, covering the facts as they are known, the accident investigation and considers the evidence pointing towards the possible suspects. After half a century, the cause has been established but not the reason or perpetrator. 'Bealine Charlie Oscar', taking its title from the aircraft's callsign, is due for publication later in 2018.
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  • War Crime: A Bomber Command Ghost Story cover art

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