this is albert keogh we are looking at, 98. he is a royal navy veteran. do i hear applause? applause look at his face as who takes it all in. he hails from scotland and the smile on his face, because the thing is, he survived, james. he understands what the loss is because he had a life. ~ . , , , life. what must they be feeling, thou~h? life. what must they be feeling, though? the life. what must they be feeling, though? the fact life. what must they be feeling, though? the fact that life. what must they be feeling, though? the fact that they, - life. what must they be feeling, though? the fact that they, for| life. what must they be feeling, - though? the fact that they, for some reason, they have cheated, they cheated death in 1944 and had cheated death in 1944 and had cheated it ever since and here they still are. cheated it ever since and here they stillare. how cheated it ever since and here they still are. how wonderful cheated it ever since and here they stillar
i speak on behalf of ron hendrey, royal navy, who i had the great privilege of meeting. he is with us here today and shared these words: applause as daylight broke on 6thjune1944, it must have been 5.30 in the morning. the sight will never leave my mind. ships as far as the eye could see thousands of them. battleships, cruisers, landing crafts over the starboard side a 25 mile stretch. the skies were black with aircraft. the raf and american air force had cleared the way for us in the months leading up to d day. i will never forget the captain s words.
people who worked in the nhs see thousands dying around them and they ve already made a pact to kill themselves, even though they re perfectly able bodied themselves. how has the pandemic affected you personally? i mean, did you find writing during a pandemic a very different experience? well, of course, there was, you know, loads of time and no interruptions so, in some ways, it was perfect for a writer. i mean, writers worth their salt would probably enjoy being in lockdown indefinitely. iwas. i was a little disturbed by how little my life changed because i stay home a lot anyway. um. you mean self isolation is your natural state, is that what you re saying? it is indeed. yeah. and i got out of all those parties. it didn t really upset me.
see thousands dying around them and they ve already made a pact to kill themselves, even though they re perfectly able bodied themselves. how has the pandemic affected you personally? i mean, did you find writing during a pandemic a very different experience? well, of course, there was, you know, loads of time and no interruptions so, in some ways, it was perfect for a writer. i mean, writers worth their salt would probably enjoy being in lockdown indefinitely. iwas. i was a little disturbed by how little my life changed because i stay home a lot anyway. um. you mean self isolation is your natural state, is that what you re saying? it is indeed. yeah. and i got out of all those parties. it didn t really upset me. i mostly found the pandemic
and the pandemic is sort of a theme that runs through the book as these two people who worked in the nhs see thousands dying around them and they ve already made a pact to kill themselves, even though they re perfectly able bodied themselves. how has the pandemic affected you personally? i mean, did you find writing during a pandemic a very different experience? well, of course, there was, you know, loads of time and no interruptions so, in some ways, it was perfect for a writer. i mean, writers worth their salt would probably enjoy being in lockdown indefinitely. iwas. i was a little disturbed by how little my life changed because i stay home a lot anyway. um. you mean self isolation