Auteur: Fred McGlade

Born in Belfast in 1953, Fred McGlade was brought up in a poor inner city area. He left school with little in the way of qualifications, his education having been disrupted by the « Troubles ». The family home being « burnt out » by the IRA was the impetus for him to leave Belfast and he joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps where he served for six years as a Vehicle Specialist. After leaving the army he got involved with the road haulage/ logistics industry and this led to him going to Dubai where he obtained a job as an Insurance Assessor examining damage to shipping cargo onboard container vessels. After three years in Dubai, on his return to England the insurance experience he had gained led him to start up his own insurance brokerage, which he ran for 19 years. During that time he enrolled with the Open University, where he gained a BA (Hons) Humanities and an MA History. After the sale of the insurance brokerage he was accepted as a History and English tutor at a Young Offenders Institute, where he worked for almost three years. He then decided to attempt a PhD, studying full time for three years at Lancaster University. This he successfully completed in 2008. During studying for the PhD he was able to teach undergraduates part time in the History department gaining valuable teaching experience and qualifications. For the last year he has been working as a Regional Organiser for a political party, the UK Independence Party, politics being one of his lifelong interests. He is the author of The History of the British Army Film and Photographic Unit in the Second World War and has narrated and contributed to the recent BBC3 documentary Shooting The War. During his spare time he continues to research the massacres committed by the Nazis in the Massa Carrara / Lunigiana areas of Italy during World War Two.