Aldershot 1945

By Bruce Allen Powe and Bruce Powe

The war in Europe is over. The war in Aldershot has just begun. Canadian soldiers anxiously waiting to be sent home, riot in the garrison town of Aldershot, England to protest their idle confinement.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1896300774
• ISBN13: 9781896300771
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Newest Pr
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Provides for riveting reading

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Bruce Allen Powe served in the Canadian Army during WW II from 1943-45. He went on to earn BA and MA degrees in Economics from the University of Alberta. He worked as a federal employee, held positions in public relations, and later started his own company writing for corporations. He has published five novels. Hitler has been routed, but soldiers are still dying fighting Japan. Canadian soldiers housed in deplorable conditions in Aldershot, England rip up the town out of sheer frustration. The following night, Lieutenant Colonel Wellesley, the point man for the soldiers, is neatly shot between the eyes. An enraged Churchill sends in his own Scotland Yard to investigate what turns out to be a blaze of smuggling, death, and corruption that reaches across Europe. The murder, when investigated, seems to center on the Lieutenant's affair with an enlisted woman. But is this the only motivation? "How it came about happened so gradually and naturally she could hardly recall the moment. She brought in files, he talked to her, admired her intelligence, but was never obvious like Marvin or the others. The actual date was June 6, 1945, the first anniversary of D-day, a relatively modest celebration - this time no turning out the Quacks in their nightclothes, as they told her he had ordered back in Red Deer in '43 when Italy surrendered. Typical of him, he came back from the officers' loose for a change, to find her slaving away on stacks of files in her cubicle down the hall. Almost shyly, a rare moment that entranced her, he asked if she would care to join him for a drink." Bruce Allen Powe writes as if he is painting a picture for the reader. We are treated to a low-key mystery where everyone has something to hide. Powe meticulously recreates the world of Aldershot and its seething tensions, with the Canadian soldiers waiting to be released from service or reassigned to an almost certain death. His plot is a compelling tangle of war time profiteering, politics, conspiracies, self-indulgent wealth, and exploitation. Powe's dark and brooding mystery provides for riveting reading. This is an excellent tale!! Shelley Glodowski Senior Reviewer