Re-imaging of the Battle of St Lucia from a different angle. A fictional image
This podcast episode is a work of historical fiction written to teach listeners, in an entertaining way, about the background and major events that happened during the battle.
Youtube link for the episode with four battle related fictional images:
Jan Slimming is a publishing professional who was six when she first heard of Bletchley Park, but it was decades later that she was compelled to research and write about this little-known part of her mother’s life. We spoke about the book, her mother’s code-breaking career and her father’s WWII captivity. Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park (Pen and Sword Military, 2021)
0:38 – Jan talks about why she wrote about her mom’s WWII work at Bletchley Park.
5:39 – Jan talks about what the book focuses on.
10:44 – Jan talks about everyone at Bletchley Park being billeted nearby.
12:34 – Jan talks about the training or lack of among the Park personnel.
14:35 – Jan talks about how her parents met.
16:46 – Jan talks about the skills they used for code breaking.
20:49 – Jan talks about her mother’s relatives who also worked in code breaking.
23:24 – Jan talks about what her mom did after the war.
24:51 – Jan talks about her mom not talking about working for the India office.
26:49 – Jan talks about how she broke the book down.
28:31 – Jan talks about her research.
31:26 – Jan talks about touring Bletchley Park.
35:18 – Jan talks about going back to England for her research.
38:25 – Jan talks about wanting to know if her mother was assigned to finding the 18th division.
40:23 – Jan talks about her mother going through a nervous breakdown after the war.
45:45 – Jan talks about other people who had relatives at Bletchley Park reach out to her.
52:39 – Jan goes into detail about touring Bletchley Park.
53:54 – Jan talks about security at Bletchley Park.
57:30 – Jan talks about her mother meeting Ian Fleming and knowing Alan Turing.
1:00:21 – Jan is on Pen and Sword and on Facebook at Jan Slimming Author.
Kevin F. Kiley is a retired US Marine Corps artillery officer and a graduate of West Point. He has a master’s degree in Military History from and has written extensively on historic artillery and other topics. We spoke about his latest book, a dictionary of Napoleonic artillery. Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars: A Concise Dictionary, 1792-1815 (Frontline Books, 2021)
0:38 – Kevin talks about why he started writing about the Napoleonic Wars.
3:13 – Kevin talks about the focus of the book on technical artillery terms.
4:35 – Kevin contrasts field artillery and all other types of artillery.
8:01 – Kevin talks about Napoleon’s rise because of being an artillerist.
10:46 – Kevin talks about where the artillery pieces were made.
13:04 – Kevin talks about overheating artillery guns.
14:07 – Kevin talks about the gun foundries at the time.
15:30 – Kevin talks more about foundries.
16:06 – Kevin talks about naval artillery.
16:51 – Kevin talks about the artillery engineers of the time.
18:17 – Kevin talks about meritocracy in the French military.
19:29 – Kevin talks about moving artillery around.
21:35 – Kevin talks about horses and artillery teams.
22:06 – Kevin talks about horses knowing artillery commands.
22:53 – Kevin talks about how quickly gun crews could set up.
24:13 – Kevin talks about the elements needed to load and fire a gun.
25:59 – Kevin talks about the cartridge, siege loading, and the sabot.
26:41 – Kevin talks about fuses.
27:23 – Kevin talks about loading lit bullets.
28:59 – Kevin talks about the French system after 1815.
29:19 – Kevin talks about the research he did for the book.
32:42 – Kevin talks about counter-battery action.
34:05 – Kevin talks about incendiary shells.
35:43 – Kevin talks about standing up to artillery attacks.
36:30 – Kevin talks about the French at the American Revolution.
37:27 – Kevin talks about Washington’s use of artillery.
38:28 – Kevin talks about national approaches to artillery.
42:35 – Kevin talks about building cannons.
44:27 – Kevin talks about artillery in French battles.
46:54 – Kevin talks about the War of 1812.
48:04 – Kevin talks about an odd-sounding artillery term
50:52 – Kevin talks about Russian changes in artillery.
51:40 – Kevin talks about the best artillerists.
52:55 – Kevin talks about the cavalry and the artillery.
53:53 – Kevin talks about how the artillery protected itself.
54:31 – Kevin talks about artillery unit make-ups.
56:26 – Kevin talks about his various books.
1:02:49 – Kevin talks about temperature and artillery.
1:05:34 – Kevin talks about hearing loss and artillery.
1:10:20 – Kevin talks about Napoleon’s interest in naval artillery.
1:12:33 – Kevin talks about important qualities of an artillery officer.
1:13:19 – Kevin talks about interest in the Napoleonic Wars.
1:16:28 – Kevin talks about myths about the Napoleonic Wars.
1:17:47 – Kevin talks about the Russians and Napoleon.
1:22:03 – Information on the book can be found at amazon.
1:23:48 – Kevin talks about the Eastern Roman Empire.
Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Frontline Books, editor interview, General military history, 19th century war, Napoleonic Wars, 18th century war, United States, Germany, Russia, France, Britain,
