Inside Story with Lucinda

Victoria Panton Bacon came to writing about the Second World War quite by default - after coming across her grandfather’s diary of serving as an RAF pilot during the Battle of France in the summer of 1940.  After reading his words, and being horrified, fascinated and impressed in equal measure she set about researching the events he described (including being shot down three times during this six-week battle, as France and the Benelux countries fell into German hands) only to discover that what he had written was (almost all!) true.  The diary became the basis of her first book Six Weeks of Blenheim Summer. 

This book led Victoria to other Second World War veterans, many of whom began to talk to her about their memories – as did family members who yearned for their relatives not to be forgotten.  She set about writing up many of these memories realising their historical importance – each heartfelt, true, story representing thousands of others.  Victoria has since had two further books published, Remarkable Journeys of the Second World War and Remarkable Women of the Second World War. Her books have been described as the ‘Bayeux Tapestry of the Second World War.’

Prior to writing about the war, Victoria worked as a BBC television news journalist and for the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street during the 1997 general election campaign. Join Victoria on the 23rd of June for the Inside Story with Lucinda Hawksley.