My neighbour came round today who is in his eighties . He was a platoon commander during the battle of Normandy from June 1944 onwards. A D-Day veteran survivor. Chatting over a cup of tea, he was reminiscing about some of his experiences. I’m currently reading ‘Countdown to Victory’ by Barry Turner which is proving to be a very rewarding book. (it covers the period from August 1944 onwards).

But books aren’t everything. I was very conscious while we were talking that his experiences and knowledge as someone who had been there were formed in a very different way to my ‘knowledge’ about this as someone who has only read about it in books.

It struck me that in a situation like that, it’s getting it right to use the knowledge gained in books to ask questions to enrich the written content.