Reflections on the 80th anniversary of my father’s death. My father died 80 years ago today, 18th November. He was one of a crew of seven in a Lancaster bomber shot down whilst flying a pathfinder mission over Mannheim. …

Better Dirty Than Done by Rick Czaplewski— review by Frank Parker — A young man with cancer is enabled to see a scan of his tumour days before he meets his oncologist to discuss the prognosis. He misinterprets what he sees and spends the next while believing he is doomed to die before he has time to achieve anything of significance. …

Did King Charles III and I go to similar schools? King Charles III was born 75 years ago today. In 1962, aged 13, he was enrolled in Gordonstoun School, a private establishment in North East Scotland, with a reputation for a tough regime. His father had attended the school immediately…

I saw that interview and the quote. As an engineer I know that machines wear out. AI can't do everything. It can create machines that could be capable of replicating most human skills, upto and including brain surgery. However, the part(s) of the system that move are subject to wear…

1948 marked a break from my father’s family. — Three months before King Charles III was born London hosted the 14th Olympiad. In consequence, if you execute an internet search for images of London in 1948 the majority of what you will find relates to that event. I visited London that year but I have no idea whether it…

I did not create this publication as a home for a personal memoir. There is already “About Me Stories” where the posts I’ve used to kick off “Born Before King Charles III” would be equally at home. I want to fill this publication with stories describing what it was like…

What it was like to be born in England before King Charles — Soon after Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, children whose families lived in cities that were liable to air attack were sent to the countryside. Some went to stay with rural relatives. For many it was the generosity of country dwellers opening their homes to strangers’ children that…

Announcing a new publication — The UK’s king was born on 14th November 1948. I had just turned 7 and can remember hearing news of the royal birth on the radio. Events featuring the British royal family have always been headline news. But then, as now, there were much more significant things happening. Things that…

In all the commentary on the situation in Israel-Palestine since the horror of the latest Hamas incursion I have seen not a single reference to the one factor that is central to the conflict. Except this one. Is it that people take it for granted, so obvious that there is…