A RETIRED Bromsgrove based senior police officer has written a book all about Warwickshire’s storied past during the Second World War and Cold War.
The book Top Secret Warwickshire is a continuation of a series of books – written by Michael Layton QPM, 71 – which delve into top secret accounts, unsolved mysteries and little known facts from the history of towns.
Through extensive research, witness accounts and photographs the book tells historic stories about WWII, the Cold War, the RAF, the Royal Observer Corps, prisoner of war camps, policing and more.
Michael’s new edition on Warwickshire is co-authored with his wife Androulla Christou-Layton, 58, and published by Redditch based – Brewin Books.
Previous books in the series include Top Secret Worcestershire I and II, while Top Secret Warwickshire marks Michael’s 26th book release.
Michael told the Standard: “I realised how rich Warwickshire’s history was and appreciate the ability to preserve that history, which would otherwise be lost, through writing.
“I became particularly fascinated by the prisoner of war camps in the region, as well as the defense networks built along canals to prevent German advances in the event of an invasion.
“I’ve always enjoyed the research side which stems from years of research work within the police. Also, writing has always been cathartic for me.”
Michael’s first book, Hunting the Hooligans, co-authored by Robert Endeacott delved into his work leading an undercover West Midlands Police operation to take down the Zulu Warriors – a gang of notorious Birmingham City Football Club supporters during the 1980’s.
He has also written books on policing in Britain, Cyprus and India, fiction titles, slang books, works about the life of his wife’s father in Cyprus and more.
