The Reluctant Heroes: The second installment in the Layburn Chronicles - Paperback

I hail from Valla Beach on the mid north coast of NSW, Australia. I combine my passion for the written word, history and with my family ancestry. Since the late 1980s, I have pondered over my family lineage, particularly the stories of John Joseph Layburn and James Fines, my great grandfathers and their incredible journeys from England and Ireland to country NSW, Australia. While writing, "Curse the Bells" I lived in Maleny, Queensland, noted for its excellence in the arts, which I put down to the quality of the mountain air in the beautiful Blackall Ranges. I'm a keen rail enthusiast and gardener and my venture into the literary world is sure to continue for years to come. This book is dedicated to my mother, Marcella Wakeling. She was tragically killed in the main street of Nambucca Heads, New South Wales in 1987. My mother moved from Dee Why, Sydney to the sleepy village of Nambucca Heads on the mid north coast of NSW to live in a retirement village in 1986. I was having a quiet cup of coffee at home when the phone rang. It was Macksville Hospital and the message was not good. My mother had been hit by a frontend loader in the main street of Nambucca Heads whilst walking over a pedestrian crossing. I jumped in the car and was at the hospital in twenty minutes. "Mum what happened?" I said as she lay on a bed in the casualty ward. She replied, "I don't know. I was crossing the road when this thing hit me." She then hesitated and held my hand. "Don't talk, save your strength," I said. "No Doug, I have to tell you about my grandfathers John Joseph Layburn and James Fines." "Tell me later - just get better," I replied as she lay there gasping for breath. Then she said, "Doug listen, there is an envelope in the bottom draw in the bedroom, it will tell you everything." With that she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. The Doctor on duty informed me she had broken both arms and six ribs and would have to go to Coffs Harbour Hospital to be treated in the intensive care unit. My mother went into a coma and never recovered. Six weeks later she was cremated in the Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Sydney and her remains were placed in the wall next to our Father's who had died in 1961.