Book Review – Forward Regardless!
by Mike Morgan
Reviewed by Maurice F. Wilson
This cryptic title is the motto of the 5th Green Howards and typifies the life of our distinguished member Will Lacy. At the outset, Will challenges us all to build the best life we can and achieve goals in life irrespective of age or adversity. He’s certainly done that himself and for him, one might say, that one life is not enough.
One of the milestones in his life was when at the age of six, in the road at Hawsker, a man handed his mother a parcel with the words, “Keep this for t’lad and tell him they’re from Scott.” That man was lames Skelton who went South with Captain Scott and the parcel simply contained a thick woollen undervest and some rock crystals from the Beardmore Glacier. Yet, these simple souvenirs proved to be a source of inspiration to the young Lacy
He joined up early in the War and was sent to France. In his very first patrol into No-mans land, armed only with a walking stick, he captured a German Officer and kept his revolver for his personal weapon. He and a soldier, among the last to leave Dunkirk, were given the impossible task of trying to hold up the entire German Army, Back in ‘Blighty’ he met ‘Monty’ who, subsequently was to become his G.O.C. in the Western Desert for, the following year Will was posted to the Middle East. It is generally conceded that the Battle of Alamein was the turning point of the war. It comes then, as no surprise, to learn that Will was one of a small group who had to pinpoint in detail, the defence line against which Rommel’s drive ground to a halt.
Back Home in peacetime, Will was taken with the wanderlust and sailed to St. Kilda and Iceland. He longed to cross the Arctic Circle and eventually, an opportunity arose to get a lift on a boat of Norwegians and trappers bound for Spitzbergen. A trip to Greenland, that most northerly land, was inevitable and he writes eruditely of its’ people, nature, and history.
I knew that Will was an expert photographer and has judged several of our competitions at after-dinner meets. What didn’t know was his ability to recognise a masterpiece of painting when he saw one, and his chapter on ‘Delving into Art’ is one of the most fascinating.
Most of our members will already have heard and read of Will Lacy’s journeys to the North Pole and the South Pole when he was well over eighty years old. Each of these trips is recounted in graphic detail with accompanying illustrations. advise everyone to read this book. It’s a cracker!
Forward Regardless! by Mike Morgan, the life and adventures of Major Will Lacy is obtainable directly from the publishers. It costs £10.50,plus a charge of £1.50 postage and packing, from Caedmon of Whitby, 128 Upgang Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire Y021 3JJ