Over the ocean: a wartime story of exile and enduring love

In July 1940, Erich Fischer found herself in Liverpool being herded onto a British transport ship bound for Australia, along with 2500 other men.

Conditions on board were horrific, with men locked below decks with overflowing latrines and only seawater to clean themselves.

Separated from family, friends and removed from any semblance of a normal life, Erich is unsure whether he will ever see wife and child again.

Erica Fischer's book tells the extraordinary story of her own parents and at the same time sheds light on a little-known and little-discussed chapter in British history.