Time Stood Still in a Muddy Hole

A chance finding of a watercolour began the author's journey of discovery leading to the remarkable and heroic acts by the artist AFJ Hannaford and his colleagues.

The author enthusiastically pieced together his life story and was gripped by coincidences, stirred by the passionate heartache present in his many notes, also heard in his conversations filmed for a Channel 4 documentary and an interview for the Imperial War Museum.

The search lead to dark and dangerous times and brave men blown up doing their job.

It unearthed the secrecy surrounding their acts of courage and the often untimely end of their young lives from booby-trapped enemy bombs and, tragically, from our own mine clearance.

Captain John Hannaford, Royal Engineer Bomb Disposal Officer WWII, was a leader of men at 24.

He was told he would have only 10 weeks life expectancy in that job.

But he died on Armistice Day, 2015, at the age of 98.

He was one of the last surviving officers, never forgetting, still hearing the voices of those young men from the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal, 8 Section 16 Company, blown up on a beach in South Wales.

The author hopes that this record will show that the officers and men who died should receive the recognition for their bravery and sacrifice, that John so longed for.