Posthumous publication for novel of Sussex gypsy family

Littlehampton’s Kate Russell, has brought her father’s unpublished novel into the world 14 years after he passed away.
Jack WorsfoldJack Worsfold
Jack Worsfold

Posh Rats has been published by YouCaxton Publications at £12.99 and is available from youcaxton.co.uk, Amazon, and Waterstones online.

Kate, aged 73, said her father Jack Worsfold, was a man of many talents: “In his later years, he wrote a memoir about his war experiences, the manuscript of which was unfortunately lost. In around 1985, he wrote the novel Posh Rats, about the lives of a gypsy family wandering around Sussex and Surrey during the 1930s. I have no idea why he chose this subject, but it seems he had intimate knowledge of Romani customs and language. The story offers a sympathetic look at the prejudice and injustices suffered by the community, without whitewashing darker aspects of their lifestyle.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Jack never published the book and the manuscript was found among his possessions after he passed away in 2006: “I knew it meant a lot to my dad, and – on the recommendation of friends who read and loved it – I decided to take it on myself to see his work in print.”

Jack was born in Surrey in 1924. In 1943, at the age of 19, he joined the RAF. In 1944, as a rear gunner on a Lancaster 101, Jack had the luckiest of escapes. That night, 340 Lancasters turned around after they had bombed Mailly-le-Camp near Reims and returned home to Ludford Magna. But 42 of them were shot down and one of them was Jack’s.

Because he was the rear gunner (or tail-end Charlie, as they were known) he was in the back end when the plane broke in two. He spiralled 7,500 feet in his gunner’s perspex bubble, crashing through a power line and a stand of trees before coming to rest in gorse near the village of Aubeterre. Miraculously, he survived with only a broken leg. A French Resistance fighter found him, but had to leave him behind because he couldn’t run. Shortly afterwards Jack was captured by the Germans and taken off to Paris where his injuries were treated. He then spent a year in a POW camp in Poland until the war ended. The rest of the crew perished in the crash and were buried at Aubeterre.

After the war, Jack settled in Cranleigh again and tried his hand at various activities, including with the Godalming Opera Singers, before turning to writing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

*************

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.

Gary Shipton

Editorial Director

Related topics: