, was also one of the most prolific English short story writers of the twentieth century, often compared to Chekhov. He wrote over 300 short stories and novellas in a career spanning six decades from the 1920s through to the 1970s.
My grandfather's short fiction took many different forms, from descriptive country sketches to longer, sometimes tragic, narrative stories, and I am thrilled that Bloomsbury Reader will be reissuing all of his stories and novellas, making them available to new audiences, and giving them – especially those that have been out of print for many years or only ever published in obscure magazines, newspapers and pamphlets – a new lease of life.
in 1926, when my grandfather was just twenty, or 'Castle in the Air', a wonderful, humorous story that was lost and unknown to our family until 2013.
– a brilliant comprehensive online resource where detailed bibliographic information, as well as articles and reviews, on almost all of H. E. Bates's publications, can be found.
I hope you enjoy reading all these evocative and vivid short stories by H. E. Bates, one of the masters of the art.
. When you sign-up you will immediately receive an exclusive short work by H. E. Bates.
The war of 1939-1945 required total commitment from British citizens. That included writers. Almost everyone from Noel Coward to George Orwell was anxious to do their bit. Some like Evelyn Waugh saw themselves as men of action rather than scribblers and spurned the pen for the sword – a mistake as it turned out. Most though, decided they could make the most effective contribution by practising what they did best.
Herbert Ernest Bates was thirty-four years old when the war broke out, and married with four children. He was already a well-known writer and a junior member of the literary establishment with friends like Graham Greene. Despite his age and family responsibilities he first tried for a commission in the Royal Air Force only to be turned down. He spent a frustrating time trying to get worthwhile war work. Eventually, in September, the Air Ministry offered an unusual assignment. They proposed to commission him into the RAF simply as a short story writer, charged with showing the public the private face of the aircrews who by now were engaged in an all out bombing campaign. Bates was alarmed at first – he knew nothing about flying or military aviation. That soon gave way to a feeling of pride and excitement. He left the ministry 'feeling rather as if I had been awarded a literary Victoria Cross.' The results, published anonymously at first under the pen name 'Flying Officer X,' would enthral hundreds of thousands of readers and delight his superiors.
The stories are all taken from Bates's time at bomber stations in the east of England during the autumn and winter of 1941-1942. It was a painful period for the RAF and for Bomber Command in particular. The realisation was dawning that without better navigational aids bombing was hopelessly inaccurate and wasteful.
Bates's job was not to analyse operational shortcomings but to anatomise – and celebrate – the character of those doing the flying and dying. He did so triumphantly, subtly exposing the motivations and mindsets of men who spent little time examining their emotions, explaining them in a way they would have been hard pressed to do themselves.
(Salmon and Gluckstein in RAF slang) were berthed, menacing Britain's vital trans-Atlantic supply line. It was a dismal place and a dismal time. Thirteen aircraft were lost, thirty-eight aircrew were killed and thirteen taken prisoner. The losses achieved little. Bates was profoundly aware of the gap between himself as an observer and those who were taking the risks. He offered a sympathetic ear, rarely probing, and these taciturn men opened up to him over a drink in the mess or the local pub. The stories show that he was not only a great writer, but also a superb listener.
stories are collected into one volume here for the first time together with some previously unpublished stories from the same period.
Every morning when I came downstairs I sat in the mess and looked for it in the papers. "Last night our bombers …" I would read. "Yesterday evening at dusk a strong formation …" But what I really looked for was never there.
I used to consider the case of Dibden. Dibden was twenty-five. He was a pilot with thirty-three operational trips and a D.F.C. to his name. He flew Stirlings and looked more than anything else like a dark, very handsome little Eskimo. You felt that it was a pure accident that he was flying a bomber instead of doing a roll in a kayak or having a snooze in an igloo.
Dibden was a good type, and a very good pilot indeed. But there were some who would not fly with him. Navigators, changed from their own crew, would suddenly develop violent toothache or trouble with their ears. Dibden was rather proud of the way he could land a Stirling in fair imitation of a golf-ball.
Once, on circuit and bumps, Dibden began to come in for landing with his air-speed down to ninety. He pulled her off again and did a sickly turn over the telegraph posts on the railway line and came back to land on the established golf-ball principle, hastily. "It was quite a moment," Dibden said.
There was nothing about that in the papers. Nor, of course, was there anything about the way he had all his operational hours carefully added up. His thirty-three trips amounted to a hundred and fifty hours.
Very soon, with another fifty hours, Dibden would be a veteran — an old man of twenty-five who had watched others do their three and five and perhaps fifteen trips and not return. Dibden always returned; like a ball thrown at a wall he came back, and the harder you threw him, the faster he returned.
Once or twice a week, when not on ops., Dibden got a little whistled, but the papers, of course, did not mention this either. You came into the mess late at night, tired, perhaps, after a spell of duty, to find Dibden bouncing from chair to chair, table to piano, like a smiling cherubic little Eskimo chasing an invisible bear.
At intervals he stopped being the Eskimo and became the bear, rushing up to other people, especially newcomers, to embrace them. "Bad type, bad type!" he would say. "Seize him, knock him down. Bad type!" We were all bad types when Dibden was whistled, but the papers, of course, did not mention this either. We are very good types really.
After these adventures others came down to breakfast with faces looking the colour of the sheepskin on their flying-boots; they looked at the mess of kidneys and bacon and said: "My God, I've had it," and crawled away.
This phrase, which, of course, was never in the papers either, covered all the troubles of Dibden's life. It covered all his troubles with his kite, his crew, his ops., his leave, his food, his popsy.
He was brassed off when ops. were on because of the increasing monotony of trying to prang the same target; he was brassed off when ops. were scrubbed because there was no target at all. He was brassed off because there was fog on the drome or because his popsy could not keep her date.
always the same: cherubic, grinning, bouncing, handsome, too irresponsible, and altogether too like a schoolboy to be engaged in the serious business of flying an expensive bomber.
One afternoon Dibden was out over the coast of Holland on a daylight. It was his thirty-third trip: the veteran adding another four or five hours to his flying time. Down below, off the coast, he saw what he took to be an enemy tanker and he went down to have a look-see.
The tanker opened up at him with a fury of flak that surprised him, holing his port wing. I do not know what his emotions were, but I imagine that he was, simply, and as always, just brassed off. He went in and attacked the tanker with all he had, bombing first and then diving to machine-gun the deck.
The tanker hit back very hard, clipping a piece out of the starboard flap, but the more the tanker hit, the more Dibden bounced back, like the ball thrown hard against the wall. His rear gunner was very badly wounded, but Dibden still went in, firing with all he had left until the flak from the tanker ceased.
about that brief, bloody, and very bitter affair in which Dibden had bounced back repeatedly like an angry ball, or about the long journey home.


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RBC Artistic Associate / Artistic Director Intern
Festival Antigonish is pleased to welcome Matt Lacas as our 2023 RBC Artistic Associate / Artistic Director Intern. Matt Lacas is a multi-disciplinary Indo-Canadian artist from Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) living and working in Tkaronto (Toronto). He is a graduate of both Dawson College's Professional Theatre Program in Montreal and Randolph College for The Performing Arts in Toronto. Since graduating, Matt has had the privilege of performing on stages all across Canada. Selected Credits: Brimful of Asha, Ben Hur, Robin Hood: The Great Escape (FAST), Jungle Book US Tour (Kidoons), Les Moutons (Corpus), Fabulous Lipitones (Miracle Theatre). Matt is also the founder of We Are Here Productions, a theatre company that aims to turn art into tangible aid for those in need worldwide. We Are Here has worked closely with the Hispanic Federation, Canadian Mental Health Association, Canadian Women's Foundation and WaterAid Canada.
No stranger to the Festival Antigonish community, having spent two summers as a performer here in 2019 and 2021, Matt says, "FAST has always felt like a place where I can truly be myself. A place that I'm not afraid to try and fail. I think it's so incredibly important to have safe and supportive environments, like the one that Andrea and her team at FAST have created, when branching out and learning new skills. I can't wait to get to Antigonish and to learn from such a variety of creative minds."
Matt will reside in Antigonish and work with the Festival Antigonish team from January – August 2023. Funded by the RBC Foundation, the program's objective is to support and promote an artist seeking to bridge the gap from "emerging" to "established", through dedicated funding and professional supports including mentorship, talent development, artistic resources, new audiences, and opportunities to collaborate with other artists. Matt will work closely with Artistic Director Andrea Boyd to support theatre creation in areas of programming, new play development, artistic outreach, and educational programs. He will be an integral member of the team, supporting the company's vision to Forge creative pathways that strengthen community, inspire compassion, and spark positive change through professional, live performing arts.
"I am thrilled to welcome Matt to our team" says Andrea Boyd. "Since the first time we worked together in 2019, I have been impressed with Matt's dedication, diligence, creativity, and his ability to connect. Matt is a source of joy and inspiration for everyone around him, and I cannot wait to have him join our team in this new artistic leadership capacity so we can learn and grow together."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Do You Wash Your Face Correctly? Kim K Sometimes Doesn't!
Do You Wash Your Face Correctly? Kim K Sometimes Doesn't!
Kim Kardashian West sometimes sleeps with her makeup on. And it got us thinking, are you washing your face correctly?
Kim then said that she was inspired by Charlotte when she was feeling lazy that she would sleep in her makeup so she didn't have to redo it the next day.
Although Charlotte Tilbury may have 'magic creams' it is extremely bad advice to sleep in your makeup. This will clog your pores and prevent your skin from breathing and healing as well as causing breakouts.
With 2 of the most influential women in beauty breaking rule no 1 it got me thinking, how many women aren't washing their makeup off correctly if at all?
We all have different skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, redness, psoriasis to name a few. What you use on your face should be tailored to your skin to treat and maintain any conditions that you may have. Dr ZO Skin Health by Dr. Zein Obagi is tailored to your skin specifically, to help with any concerns that you may have.
Most products have instructions telling you exactly how to use them, but do you ever properly read them? To get the most out of your cleansers you must use them for a minimum of 60 seconds on your face. Damp your face with tepid water and then use a 20c size dollop of the cleanser. Rub this onto your face in circular motions for 60 seconds. Rinse again using tepid water making sure all of the product is off.
Quick Tip: Use a microfibre cloth to help remove heavy makeup and use a fresh cloth for every wash as water allows bacteria to build up.
It is important to use an SPF no matter the time of year, the sun's UV rays are harmful to your skin all year round. The SPF will also protect your skin from impurities in the air.
It is important not to use a cream with SPF while you sleep as this prevents your skin from breathing. Use a cream that feeds your skin as well as allowing it to breathe. Your skin needs to breathe at night as it is blocked during the day from makeup. Allowing it to breathe allows it to heal.
Simple enough right? Get into the correct habit of washing your face with products that you love. Less than 4 minutes a day is all it takes to prep yourself for beautiful skin.
We hope you're practicing all of the skin tips above but if you want to give your skin a deep cleanse and boost then we'd love to help. Book yourself in for a skin consultation by using the form here, calling us on 01 676 1074 or emailing us to book in.


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Listen to REASON's 'No More, No Less: Demo 1' EP
Isaiah Rashad, Wale, Benny The Butcher, and more contribute to the quick-strike release.
Last weekend, REASON decided to bless his fans with an EP titled No More, No Less: Demo 1, which sees collaborations alongside Isaiah Rashad, Zacari, Wale, ADÉ, Benny The Butcher, and Doe Boy. Just prior to its arrival, the Carson emcee took to social media to explain the release, revealing that it's an appetizer for more to come:
"Working on This new album that y'all will get soon but [Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith] let me get some joints off for y'all. Just a small collection of thoughts that fans been asking me for, for a minute! I'll see y'all soon and if the album not done, y'all got my word on another pack of joints! Love y'all…"
Despite its short play, REASON was able to pack a lot of dope lyricism and thought-provoking subject matter into three very different songs courtesy of Kal Banx, Mike Hector, Childish Major, and Luke Bars. On "12am in Atl," he boasts about his position and rock star status with little effort:
"Thoughts of hittin' licks still swimming 'round in my head, school of pretty women swimming 'round in my bed, picture perfect kings, capture that with my lens, years of runnin' this game, shit I feel that in my legs, okay, bitch, just keep your comments now you're fuckin' with stars, out your rabbit ass mind, you think you fuckin' with us…"
A little over a year ago, REASON liberated what's considered to be his official debut LP New Beginnings, a flawless body of work that contained 14 tracks with contributions from ScHoolboy Q, Rapsody, Alemeda, Ab-Soul, Vince Staples, Rashad, JID, and Mereba. Prior to that, he made his first official entry into the commercial realm with There You Have It, a 2017 mixtape that was re-released by TDE a year later.
Enjoy No More, No Less: Demo 1.
Reason freestyles over Migos' "Straightenin" | 'Off Top'
By REVOLT