About
Paul Reed & D Day Ancestors website
I
was born in Sussex, England, in the 1960s: my
father is a WW2 veteran who served with 24th
Field Regiment Royal Artillery from Anzio to the
Gothic Line. From him, and many of my uncles who
were all also WW2 veterans, I developed a great
interest in military history. While this is not
confined to just WW2, I have been visiting WW2
battlefields for more than 25 years, and had the
pleasure to meet numerous veterans. One of the
highlights was chatting with Major John Howard
outside the Café Gondree in the early 1980s!
I read
history at University, and finished my Masters
Degree in History in 1993. For more than sixteen
years I have worked as a Battlefield Guide on
the battlefields of WW1, WW2 and Waterloo; work
that has meant that for more than a decade I
have lived between the UK and our house in
Northern France. Being 'on site' has meant I
have been able to get to some of the
battlefields more often.
I have
written five books on WW1 (published by Pen
& Sword in the 'Battleground Europe' series)
and am currently researching a series of
books about WW2; the first one will be about
Normandy and others will follow on Arnhem and
Italy.
I also
did some TV work for the BBC about 'battlefield
archeology' in 2001/2, worked with BBC 'Timewatch'
in 2002, and in 2003 completed a new documentary
with the BBC entitled 'Gallipoli - The First D
Day' (the photo above was taken in Normandy
during the filming). This involved filming in
both Turkey and Normandy, and was first screened
on BBC2 in November 2003 with an audience of 3.5
million!
As you
can see, I am always busy and military history
is an all-consuming passion!
I
began D Day Ancestors as simply a Roll of Honour
for those who died on 6th June 1944; however, it
has now grown to become an on-line resource for
the British & Commonwealth forces who fought
in Normandy June-August 1944. It is important we
remember these men and their contribution to the
outcome of the war in North-West Europe: a
contribution all too often ignored by Hollywood
films.
Lest
we forget...
Paul
Reed
Kent
& Northern France
