AN AUTHOR is marking the 60th anniversary of VE Day by publishing a second book on the men of Moulton who fell in the two World Wars.
In December 2001, Hartford man Geoff Crompton published 34 Men, which looked at the 34 Moulton residents who died in the Great War.
And now he is releasing Another Dozen, which features those who lost their lives between 1939 and 1945.
He said: '34 Men was well received both locally and further afield, in fact some copies have been distributed to First World War enthusiasts worldwide.
'I researched each man and told the story of how and where they lived, where they worked and played and finally how they died. From a village population of 1,100 in 1914, 230 men served in the armed forces.
'When you consider that in those days, families of 10-12 were not uncommon, this meant practically every able-bodied man volunteered for service.'
He said all profits went to the British Legion Poppy Appeal Fund and nearly £400 has been raised, but he felt 'uneasy' that there were another 12 names on the village's war memorial.
He began research into their lives in 2002 and found, unlike his first book, there were plenty of people alive, both relatives and friends, who knew the 12 and remembered them well.
He said: 'They came forward with anecdotes and facts, some amusing, some sad and these helped me tell the story of their young lives.'
The second book is expected to be printed in time for this week-end's VE Day celebrations in Moulton.
Geoff's interest in history stems from his father serving in the First World War and in 1980, he was invited by his employers, ICI, to spend a term at Wolfson College, Cambridge, to study any subject of his choice - he picked the City Battalions of the First World War.
