An author from Salford who quit his job to honour World War II veterans has opened a GoFundMe to ensure these precious stories are shared.
Gary Bridson-Daley has single-handedly funded, travelled across the country, composed more than 150 interviews, filmed, transcribed, written and designed the second book, honouring the sacrifice of World War Two veterans.
‘The Last Stand – Memories of War’ which features 406 pages of original material, has taken Gary five years to make, which he has balanced alongside working 40-50 hours a week as a Security Guard in a local school.
Both his first and second book have cost Gary nearly £10,000 of his life savings, leaving him asking for public donations to continue the project. He said: “Everything I do is for veterans, it’s about veterans, and it’s to honour veterans, because to remember is to honour. That’s my mantra.
“There’s only so much I can do as I’m one person doing it all. Every pot of money that there is out there for sponsorship, is great but you are up against hundreds, if not 1000’s of other people all with their own cause trying to get their hands on the same money. It is a nightmare.”
After spending 20 years as a Tour Manager for high-end cruise ship companies, Gary began to learn more about WWII veteran’s sacrifices, inspiring him to quit his job and start the project. He continued: “I began working in areas such as Normandy, North Africa and even Pearl Harbour.
“As I was working in all these places, I started to meet World War Two veterans who were there at those places, and I started talking to them. They had fascinating stories and when I asked them, so have you written a book? Or has anyone interviewed you? The vast majority said, No, not at all.”
Given that most of the veterans were between 80 and 90 years of age, Gary felt it was vital to capture these precious narratives before it was too late.
“So I thought, I’m going to make this my mission, I’m going to come home and give up a very good job. I’m gonna make it my mission to find as many of these people from as many different services and backgrounds as possible, who served in World War Two, capture their precious stories for posterity.”
In addition to interviewing veterans from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales capturing the stories of more than 150 veterans across Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Forces, intelligence services, civilian and government backgrounds. He has also captured the stories of veterans of West Indian Jamaican background, Polish, Canadian, Nepalese, Gurkha, Sikh Indians, people of a Muslim background, and Jewish veterans.
“I’ve been capturing these stories and the families find it fascinating. They have been gobsmacked their dad who’s been in their life, the stuff that he’s been through, and seen and experienced and had happened to him that they’ve never even known about.
“They’re [the veterans] are of that generation that are very humble. These people are from a generation where they serve King and country, it was expected of them, they got on with it, then they came back, went back to a normal life and just got on with it. They have a different mindset. So for them, it was never in their mind to be in a book. So finally, in their latter years to have that happen, it’s wonderful for them as well.”
Gary’s work has gained attention from national news outlets, politicians and celebrities, including Dame Vera Lynn, who wrote the foreword for the first book.
He hopes, with the support of the GoFundMe, that the public can continue learning about the sacrifices made by WWII veterans. He said: “Well, that’s it the legacy, the educational aspects of it, because when I say educational I mean not just the story of the individual, but the greater lessons that come from it.
“I don’t write about war in order to honour it in any way because it is wrong. It’s not justifiable. And it’s just morally not right. I write to capture the precious stories of those individuals who by fate and circumstance found themselves caught up in those situations, which then led to them having to defend their country and as a result of that, have all these incredible stories to tell.”
To support the ‘Debt of Gratitude to the Last Heroes’ project, visit the GoFundMe page. To purchase Gary’s first book ‘A Debt of Gratitude to the Last Heroes’, visit Amazon. Gary can also be contacted via his Facebook page.
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