In 1950s, long before he became a teacher Edmund Hodges was conscripted to serve his two years National Service in the Army as a teleprinter operator. This saw him being posted abroad, first to the Suez Canal Zone in Egypt and later to Episkopi in Cyprus.

His letters home to his parents, expressing his puzzlement and frustration at the often nonsensical activities of the armed forces and his impressions of the foreign countries in which he found himself a temporary resident, make fascinating reading, to those of us who never had to serve.

What is special about the book is that it is sprinkled with Edmunds pencil sketches and watercolours. Those who were taught by Edmund will recall how good an artist he is, well now you can have your own copies of his work for less than a tenner (plus PP).

Eric Sanders was born Ignaz Schwarz 19 December 1919, a year after the end of the First World War. He was always known as Erich and grew up in Vienna, the “city of his dreams”. At the age of just 18 he completed his first musical which was to be produced by the prestigious Theater-an-der-Wien. However, in March 1938 just days after his musical was accepted the German troops marched into Austria and the Nazis took over his country.

As a Jew he wisely chose to flee Austria as soon as he could and arrived in London, his “city of freedom”, in August 1938.   His chance to become a famous composer was lost, but he was alive. Eric joined the British Army, firstly the Pioneer Corps and eventually the SOE (Special Operations Executive). Ignaz Schwarz now became Eric Sanders, a British name so that if captured by the Germans he would have a chance of survival as a prisoner of war. Eric was part of the Italian campaign and eventually returned to Vienna in British uniform as part of a reconstruction unit that prepared the laws and constitution of the new democratic Austria. On returning to England Eric became a teacher.  

Eric’s creative dreams remained and he wrote several plays as well as the script for the film “Nasser”. It is difficult to imagine what he could have composed and written for film and theatre if the war had not interrupted his career. But Eric has no resentment and is proud that he was able to contribute to building a new democracy in his homeland. He also loves the adopted country that gave him a new life and a beautiful family.

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