Description

During the late sixties, in the days when I still did many home visits I was on my rounds visiting an old patient of mine J. R. L. Anderson. He was a retired well known journalist and author and it was through his help and encouragement that Leeches and Breeches finally saw the light of day. This vivid and unique memoir follows my father’s abrupt departure from his gentle upbringing in Cambridge to the horrors of the First World War. Having been badly wounded he eventually recovered to resume his life as a hard working, conscientious GP, – his only weakness being a total love of horses and an insatiable fondness for hunting. This sleepy small town existence was soon to come to an end with the outbreak of World War Two. He volunteered as a surgeon on a hospital ship ferrying wounded troops between Italy and North Africa. During this time my Pa kept a faithful but illicit diary that he kept hidden away among the X-Ray plates. – This supplemented by my regular interviews with him eventually took shape into Leeches and Breeches – a fascinating account of his life through such momentous times.