The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Gerry Wells

We were very impressed by Gerry Wells' book of short stories based on his experiences of crewing a Sherman tank in WWII. Chatting to him was too good an opportunity to miss.

• Bookbag: When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Gerry Wells

Summary: We were very impressed by Gerry Wells' book of short stories based on his experiences of crewing a Sherman tank in WWII. Chatting to him was too good an opportunity to miss.

Date: #

Interviewer: Sue Magee

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Gerry Wells: I see readers in several age groups: firstly, those who lived and perhaps were involved in those dizzy days - or those who were just a little too young to participate. Then I remember the aficionados of all ages who build battle scenes and fight their wars with models - the number of manufacturers who produce the model equipment of WW2 are many and various, which leads me to think there are plenty of those enthusiasts around, not to mention the collectors of insignia, uniforms and model weaponry of the time. Another group of possible readers would have escaped me had it not been for my daughter who was reading for a History degree at the time: World War 2 is big she said, especially among those studying WW2 modules. So my hope is that my book will appeal to a wide range of readers. We'll see!

• BB: I don't think you should forget the people who just enjoy a good story too, Gerry! When I read that you had been tank crew in World War II, I expected that your book would be a non-fiction account of your experiences. It works stunningly well, but what made you chose to write fiction and particularly short stories?

GW: Writing the stories as "faction" appealed to me because it offered a broader canvas to work on; the fiction element opens up the chance to build on character and a sense of place, rather than limiting to the bare bones of fact; subtle aspects of character can be illustrated and developed in much greater depth than in a straight descriptive passage - remember the old saying ? Show... don't tell! And as with character, a location can be developed to strengthen the drive and direction of the story.

Short stories are my preferred writing form, and as I saw the book it seemed a good idea to separate story from story, giving each its own character and impact in the hope of allowing my reader time for a cup of coffee and a few moments of reflection before starting in on the next one.

• BB: Before I began reading Hornets' Nest I expected that it would be a macho book which would appeal mainly to men but was surprised to find a thought-provoking book which reached far beyond 'the fight'. I imagine that it would have been a lot easier to write the book which I was expecting, but what made you decide to take this approach?

GW: The savagery of combat when two armies are slugging it out, as was the case all those years ago, is a topic that has been described many times before and is the focus of many war books. To me, the personal stresses and strains of combat are the important focus, and seem more relevant when they can be expressed though individual members of a tank crew by what they're saying, not saying - or what they're thinking. Because I am writing fiction based on fact, I can presume... explore inside the heads of my companions as well as using my own reactions. The big factor here is that when a crew has been in action for a while, sometimes for weeks at a time, it becomes a family - and I had a pretty good idea of what was going on in their heads anyway. There's a closeness and understanding that lends itself to the retrospective filling in of individual responses to situations that turn the conventional ideals of normal society on their heads. Dialogue is the writer's friend here... a heartfelt comment at some critical moment - just a few words maybe, can convey a page of narrative. But to do that you have really to know your crew.

• BB: It's some days since I finished reading Hornets' Nest but Obie Walker and Pancho have stayed very much in my mind. Are they based on people with whom you served?

GW: All the characters in my book are taken from the actual crew of ShitOrBust, and I have portrayed the guys as I remember them; their dry, often caustic commentary and responses (usually understated) to various situatiions often took the edge off what was patently dreadful: it was a kind of collective shield. A tank is only as good as its crew... was a mantra very often served up during training, its message is true - and I count myself fortunate to have been in a team with such characters as Obie Walker, Pancho and the others.

• BB: I worry that we send men (and women) into conflict, anticipating that they might well kill or be killed and then expect them to return to normal civilian life. The final stories in Kicking the Hornets' Nest reflect this dilemma. Do you think that it's possible to return to a 'normal' life after such experiences? How did you cope?

GW: Civvy Street after demobilisation was a shock... so static, so dull. Wonderful! But there was more to settling back than that. There was no counselling or Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome to be considered in those days - you just got on with it as best you could, as all returning troops had been doing for centuries. As with many things, recovery was a matter of time, luck and character. It's probably true to say that the longer you'd been exposed to combat, the harder it was to get back to 'normality' if one ever did; this was particularly true of those who had suffered at the hands of the Japanese in Burma and elsewhere. But be the time lapse long or short, time spent at the 'sharp end' made the man who got back home very different from the lad who originally left it.

• BB: Where and how do you write? With or without music? Which parts of writing do you enjoy and which would you rather not do at all?

GW: My writing place is in an ancient summer house in the garden, it's quiet, private and south facing. There is a mass of trees and greenery which is the home of what I call the very local population i.e. the squirrels, occasional hedgehog and cock pheasant that saunter in from time to time to check I've remembered the peanuts. It's my private place, it has everything I need - and I love it.

When I'm writing I don't do music, it gets in the way; after I have battled with the first blank page of something new, the work is pretty much all pleasure - particularly (if it comes) that moment when I realise the piece is going to work: that tells me bon appetite - today is on your side...enjoy! So I do. But that's on a good day. On the bad ones, which are those when I don't get beyond the blank page - and they come quite often enough - then I hate everything...writing in particular.

• BB: I know that you've farmed and been a college lecturer. You're an excellent writer. What's been the best of it so far?

GW: The best of it so far? Not easy that, but...well, it was probably back in the early fifties when my darling wife and I went West almost as far as Carmarthen Bay where we took over 40 thistle haunted Welsh acres, made an ongoing farm, 4 children and many friends. Yes - those wild, strong, hopeful days of youth were the best...of course they were!

• BB: Is reading important to you? What are you reading at the moment and what's the best book ever?

GW: I've always been a reader. These days blessed with my Kindle I'm still at it. In my lecturing years I often promised myself I'd read again those set texts we'd worried at, argued about and generally worked over in class: days of pleasure I promised myself... and they are - but so, in retrospect, were those exciting moments when I'd suddenly hear the pennies dropping as some new gem jumped out of its text into somebody's head for the first time. And that's where I am now - James Joyce actually - but not Ulysses... yet. The best book ever? A Month In The Country by J.L.Carr. It's where I go when things get to be a bit too much.

• BB: You've got one wish - what's it to be?

GW: One wish? Sorry... if I say what that is - it won't come true!

• BB: What's next for Gerry Wells?

GW: What comes next is probably what I have on a memory stick - 60 or so short stories and a couple of hundred + poems published and unpublished. Sifting through that lot should keep me busy.

• BB: That gives us a lot to look forward to Gerry and thanks for talking to us.

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