DW’s first book after the War was an unusual one, ‘The Man Who Missed The War’ (November 1945) , a lost race fantasy which incorporated the scheme he had put forward in his War Papers of floating supplies in wartime from the U.S.A to Great Britain on rafts.
This was followed by two other books with wartime themes – Codeword Golden Fleece (May 1946), in which the Duke de Richleau attempted to foil the Germans at the start of the War by preventing them from acquiring the barges which carried oil across the Danube – a story apparently based on truth.
This was followed by a Gregory Sallust story (Come Into My Parlour), which was set in Germany and Russia in the second half of 1941.
He then decided, perhaps inspired by the new home he had bought when the war ended, to try something different.
References : Phil Baker Chapter 33
‘Drink and Ink’ pp231-2
Provenance : Private collection
