AN AUTHOR and ex-detective from Redditch has released his latest book, a poetry anthology surrounding the First and Second World Wars.
Tony Aston grew up in the town and attended Redditch County High School – now Trinity High School – in the mid to late 1960s.
He has written various books, but this is his first time writing poetry.
The poem, We Were There, which is also the title of this book, was first included in his last collection, The Last School Bell.
Published in 2025, Tony wrote about the individual stories of all those former pupils of Trinity High School, who were killed on active service during the Second World War.
Inspired by wartime poets such as Siegfried Sassoon, John McCree, Robert Graves and Dylan Thomas, Tony has written this collection of original poems, primarily surrounding the two World Wars but also touching upon the Cold War and the Falklands conflict.
The works encompass a wide range of events, places and people, relating to war, including some about groups or individuals sometimes not seen as high profile in poetry circles – the 1914 Christmas truce, women working in factories, RAF ground crews, the NAAFI, evacuees and the omnipresent Spiv.
Tony said: “Poetry is something which, until recently, I had never really considered writing but, reading through my work, I am quite pleased with the results.
“Maybe poetry writing will form part of some future projects, in addition to my other historic and fictional offerings.
“War is a topic that has attracted many fine poets over the years. Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, John McCrae and
Dylan Thomas are amongst my favourites although, I hasten to add, my efforts compare very little with those of these great writers.
“I have, however, tried to depict some of those events, feelings, aspirations, triumphs and sadnesses which inevitably become integral to all wars.
“I hope I have gone some way to achieving that.”
Tony has previously published his childhood memoir, ‘Redditch – From the Chip Shop to the Batchley’, followed by a true story, ‘The Bomber and the Weathervane’, a tapestry of wartime valour, unyielding passion and the haunting legacy of a downed Second World War Lancaster bomber.
His third book was the lifetime memoir of his father, Eddie Aston: ‘This Is How It Was’, to which both Tony and his sister-in-law, Pauline Aston, contributed additional material and editing.
‘We Were There’ was released this week.
Visit tonyastonauthor.com for more information.
