The Winds of War
I’ve not blogged about my Jock Mitchell novella series before. Not sure why, as I’m very fond of them. I’m now two ‘books’ in and, with one at the start of World War Two (Triumphant Where it Dares Defy) and one at the end (A Place More Dark), it would appear that’s that. There is an awful lot of water that flowed between 1940 and 1945 for those held as prisoners of war, but the truth is the nature of captivity leaves limited room for story development. The escape story has been done to death and isn’t for our Jock. He’s an everyman, caught up in something he wishes he wasn’t, but he’s not your dashing adventure seeker. That said, the prison camp does provide an interesting stage, with a collection of personalities functioning under impossible conditions, and I may return to Stalag XXa at some point in the future. However, the tales of Jock Mitchell definitely aren’t over and there are some elements to tie up in a third adventure. Therefore, I’ll be bringing him back to the page with an adventure set a few years after the end of the war. Watch this space!
I’ve a confession to make. Despite having read many a non-fiction book about the Second World War, I’ve never read a fictional one. So, to write one may seem odd. Like with my dystopian novels, I don’t write to satisfy the criteria of a genre, but rather to create interesting characters in a compelling situation. The war is just the stage and it provides many compelling opportunities for the actors. It’s a strange genre. War itself is abhorrent and nothing to be celebrated, but it tests the participants to their limits, thus providing a wonderful canvas for exploring the human spirit. Of course, depending on who is writing, a war can easily be presented in black and white, good verses evil, them against us, but, as with all things, it’s never that simple. Not all Germans were Nazis or bad, not all Allies were honest or nice. The imperial framework of the world dragged millions of people into a war they had no direct interest in. The high ideals of saving democracy meant little to those living under the imperial cosh. But war tends to be a binary choice and there is no doubt the Allies were the ‘good’ guys of World War Two.
Imagine you’re a German caught up in the brutality and madness of the Nazi regime. Without them you would have lead a relatively insignificant life in your insignificant town. You have little interest in politics, cast your vote elsewhere and possess no ill-will to others. All you care about is providing for your family. But with the Nazis, you must follow laws that discriminate against another race, prove your loyalty to the regime or risk punishment. You find yourself conscripted into the army, while your children are brainwashed via the Hitler Youth. Soon, you’re fighting a devasting war, freezing in the siege of Leningrad, while your family are sheltering from the bombs. Few would abandon their country or their family at such a time, and so you fight with all your might. Victory somehow means a greater chance at survival; a better future. There are horrors perpetrated by your own kind. You disagree but say nothing through fear. Then you see the retribution, atrocities committed by the other side against your comrades, and the enemy becomes de-humanised in your eyes. A threshold is passed. You lose your own humanity but that is what you think is required to win and survive. What an impossible and futile position. It is like being swept along by a tsunami: no choice, no steering, just an overwhelming force controlling your fate. That is why I introduced the character Konrad in A Place More Dark. A German to sympathise with. Somehow he turns against the current but still his future is uncertain, his options limited. He is the grey between the black and white.
We find ourselves at a time of great uncertainty in the world. A vicious spiral of hatred threatens to consume the Middle East, while aggression is used by Russia in the Ukraine to deflect from domestic problems. Elsewhere tensions exist that just require a spark to ignite a war. Peace and the removal of violence and fear would solve most problems but that will be impossible if we continue to view everything in black and white.
Nathaniel M Wrey