I recently wrote about getting access to scans from a sketchbook of Arnold's from internment in Norway during the First World War. One of the lovely things about this sketchbook is that it not only contains some lovely sketches by Arnold but also some by some of the other internees. Over the next few weeks I will featuring blog posts on these other men including the art work as well as photographs and what ever other information I can unearth about these men The first man I

Photos above from top, left to right Death of Chanticleer- drawn for Dorothy, family collection Little Bo Peep - from family collection Cow and cat - from family collection S.Y Rose, Train, Rock Charming Hjerkinn, shovelling coal, Bindle, Disdain and The Fire - 'R.A. Clarke Sketchbook, courtesy of robertstjohnsmith.com, shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence' Eagle from 1916 Christmas Card - from the family collection HMS India framed - from the family collection Birch trunk p

When I first started researching and writing about HMS India and her men I spent a significant amount of time hunting out descendants of the men who were on board and so it seemed like quite a well known story - certainly everyone I spoke to knew about it. Well, of course they did, their ancestors were on board. Over the past few years, however, in trying to promote my work and writing and the website it has become very clear how little known HMS India's story is. I have b

I began my research journey for my first book, A Bare Chronicle of Existence - Stories and Letters from internment in Norway during WW1, with a collection of letters in our family archives. Richard Arnold Clarke (known as Arnold) was my husband's grandfather and it was the letters he wrote whilst interned in Norway during the First World War that inspired me to research further and then write the book. At this early point we were aware of a small number of letters being sol

From the very beginning of this project, I have been eager to find photographs of the sailors in HMS India and, more importantly, to be...

Another little gem from my recent searching - this little piece of paper is a bread rations ticket from 1918. Whilst the internees food...

I am starting to wonder when I will come to the bottom of the seemingly bottomless collection of documents and photographs from Arnold’s...

Everytime I enter my father-in-law’s house I take the time to look at the two frames on the wall. The first one you pass as you walk...

Yesterday a letter arrived. It was a letter that I had been waiting for but it wasn’t addressed to me. The letter was one of Arnold’s. ...

A huge part of my research has been trying to contact descendants and relatives of men who served on HMS India. I always figured that if...

I discovered another letter recently. It is written to Richard Feaver Clarke, Arnold’s father, and it is from Arthur Hubbard, Arnold’s...

One of my Christmas presents was a mug from my eldest daughter. Written on it is ‘Published author Est. 2022’. I am keeping it on my...

Arnold (and many others from HMS India) spent three Christmas’ in Norway. In 1916, Arnold wrote to Nurse Bates “To wish a Christmas...

It may appear that history is a static thing. It’s happened and so it doesn’t change. In many ways this is true but what does change is...

I thought that it would be a good idea to add a blog element to the website. It will echo the up-to-date information that I am writing...