Robert Westall Quotes

“Shall I? Thought Simon. Shall I open my mind and let the devils in, and know nothing? Then it will all be over and Bowdon will be dead and we can all get some sleep...”

“If you sniggered too loud, Bowdon might notice you. If you didn’t snigger at all, he’d certainly notice. Simon Wood didn’t snigger. Bowdon noticed.”

“Somebody should kill Bowdon. Simon tried to think of a good reason for not killing Bowdon. Bowdon’s mother would cry? Simon doubted it.”

“And did the boys realize that it could blow a hole through a wall at a quarter of a mile? It was essential to track it down before the boys killed themselves or anybody else.”

“And all the time other things kept disappearing too: cement, a telescope, tin hats, fire buckets, stirrup pumps, even an Anderson shelter!”

“Soon he’s masterminding his own war effort with dangerous and unexpected results.

“His chance came when he found the crashed German Heinkel, with a machine-gun and all its ammunition intact. All he had to do was to remove it from the plane...”

“No one knew when they, or their neighbors would lose their life to a marauding German bomber or fighter plane targeting their location.”

“When he stumbles across the remains of a German bomber crashed in the woods—its shiny, black machine-gun still intact—he grabs his chance.”

“The police, the Home Guard, in fact everybody in authority in Garmouth, knew the gun had been stolen. They were pretty sure the boys had it, but where?”

“The bombing raids in Tyneside during the despairing winter of 1940-41 were appalling and relentless and the Machine Gunners is a tribute to the endurance, courage and humour of ordinary people in extraordinary circumtances.”

“One engine was in the front garden of a council house that had its windows out and its ceiling down. The family were scurrying around like ants from a broken next, making heaps of belongings they had salvaged, and then breaking up the heaps to make new heaps.” front

“Chas McGill has the second-best collection of war souvenirs in Garmouth, and he desperately wants it to be the best.”