Falling Bombs and Siren Songs

Alan Bond was a child of London, shaped by the horrors of World War II. He survived the worst of the London Blitz era before being sent to live in Devon. Even though he was sent away for his own safety, life with his elderly relatives compared rather unfavourably with life among the falling bombs. As a young man, he decided upon a career in medicine. After earning his degree at university, he followed another dream of life abroad. He settled in Tasmania to work as an anaesthetist. This new existence proved too challenging for his marriage to survive, so he started over again as a single man. But life had other plans in store for this adventurer. He met the Blonde, and his life changed forever. Now retired, he and his Australian lady shared a time of adventure on the high seas, daring the often challenging waters of the Tasman Sea and the Bass Strait. On board their boat, a wooden cutter, they explored the beautiful coasts of Tasmania and uncovered some of the ghosts of the state’s colonial past. Alan Bond’s story is one of adventure, loss, and newfound love, of second chances, surprises, and dreams pursued—and achieved.