A Clear Premonition

This is a collection of recently-discovered letters written home by Lt Timmy Lloyd during his brief service in Tuscany in 1943/44, before he was killed. The book also has a commentary by a friend, the historian Raleigh Trevelyan, who served with him. The two friends tell their story of the war in Italy from shared, but tragically different, points of view. In evocations of the beauty of rural Tuscany and its people, a world apart from the horror of the trenches which he also portrays, Lloyd's letters reflect his faith, idealism and optimism. The perspective of Trevelyan, who survived and looks back 50 years on, has the benefit of his own published memoirs and, now, of hindsight. Tim Lloyd was only 22 when he died, and is remembered by his contemporaries for his unfailing high spirits during the worst moments of the war. Brother-in-law of William Collins the publisher, he joined the Rifle Brigade after several months in ENSA. Raleigh Trevelyan kept a diary, part of which was published in 1956 as "The Fortress", providing a record of three months of horrifying trench warfare and including several references to Lloyd.