Wendy Lawrance

Born and brought up in Surrey, Wendy attended school in Esher, where she developed an early interest in English literature, particularly writing associated with the First World War. Before becoming a professional writer, she spent twenty years running her own business in the graphic design industry. She subsequently turned to writing and publishing, developing a specialist body of work focused on the literature and cultural legacy of the First World War.

First World War literature and study guides

Wendy is the writer behind Great War Literature, a publishing and educational project dedicated to the study of literature associated with the First World War. Her work includes study guides and critical notes intended to help students and readers understand major literary responses to the conflict.

Her published study materials include guides to R. C. Sherriff’s Journey’s End and Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong, as well as Great War Literature Notes on The Return of the Soldier. Bibliographic records identify Wendy Lawrance as the author of these works and Great War Literature Publishing LLP as their publisher.

This work reflects the breadth of Wendy’s interest in First World War writing: not simply the historical events of 1914–1918, but the ways in which the war has been represented, remembered and interpreted through novels, drama and poetry.

Writer and publisher

Alongside her historical and literary research, Wendy is an author of fiction, particularly romantic and wartime fiction. Her novels have been published through GWL Publishing, the fiction imprint associated with Great War Literature Publishing. GWL Publishing’s catalogue includes romance, contemporary women’s fiction, crime, mystery, thriller and war-related fiction.

Her fiction includes The Bright Star, a wartime romance set during the Second World War and published by GWL Publishing in 2021.

Wendy has also worked as a publisher and editor, giving her experience on both sides of the publishing process: creating original work as an author and developing and publishing the work of other writers. Her professional profile identifies her work as a writer and editor in publishing, with Great War Literature and GWL Publishing among her associated publishing projects.

Exercise Tiger research

Wendy’s historical research into Exercise Tiger represents a separate but closely connected strand of her work.

Exercise Tiger was a series of Allied training operations conducted in April 1944 in preparation for the Normandy landings. During the night of 27–28 April, German E-boats attacked a convoy of American Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) participating in the exercise off the Devon coast. More than 600 American servicemen were killed.

Wendy Lawrance is the author of Exercise Tiger: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Silent Few, published by Fonthill Media. The book examines the planning and execution of Exercise Tiger, the German attack, the immediate aftermath, the experiences of survivors, subsequent investigations and the competing explanations and conspiracy theories that developed around the disaster. It also includes a Roll of Honour, technical information concerning the vessels involved and notes on the sources used in the research.

Her research has subsequently informed the work of the Exercise Tiger Trust, where she serves as curator and trustee. According to the Trust, Wendy undertook months of research and cross-referencing to create its Roll of Honour, which forms a central part of the organisation’s online historical resource. The Trust’s stated aim is to continue researching, digitising and presenting personal information about those who died during Exercise Tiger.

Curator and trustee of the Exercise Tiger Trust

As curator and trustee, Wendy’s work extends beyond writing about Exercise Tiger. She has contributed to the development of the Trust’s historical and documentary resources, including its Roll of Honour, document archive and collections of personal material.

The Trust’s archive brings together contemporary military records, official reports, survivor statements, German E-boat records and other historical material. Its stated purpose is to provide an accessible resource for relatives, students, researchers and others seeking to understand the events of April 1944.

The Trust’s account of Exercise Tiger explicitly identifies Wendy Lawrance as responsible for historical research, the Roll of Honour and archival collections. Its published historical account also explains that the Trust seeks to distinguish documented evidence from later recollections and interpretations where the historical record is incomplete or conflicting.

This emphasis on documentary research is an important feature of Wendy’s work on Exercise Tiger. Rather than treating the event solely as a military narrative, her research incorporates individual casualties, survivor testimony, official documentation and archival evidence in an effort to preserve a more detailed historical record.

A career connecting literature, publishing and history

Wendy Lawrance’s career brings together several complementary areas of expertise: literary research, historical writing, fiction, publishing and archival research.

Her early interest in First World War literature led to the development of Great War Literature and a substantial programme of educational material examining First World War novels, drama and poetry. Her subsequent career as a fiction writer and publisher broadened her experience of literary production and publishing, while her research into Exercise Tiger developed a specialist interest in twentieth-century military history and historical archives.

Today, her work with the Exercise Tiger Trust is particularly concerned with preserving the documentary and personal history of the men who died during the April 1944 disaster. Through the Trust’s Roll of Honour and archive, she contributes to making information about the casualties, survivors and circumstances of Exercise Tiger available to families, researchers and the wider public.

Selected areas of work

Exercise Tiger: curator and trustee of the Exercise Tiger Trust; historical researcher responsible for the Trust’s Roll of Honour and archival collections.
Military history: author of Exercise Tiger: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Silent Few, published by Fonthill Media.
First World War literature: writer of study guides and literary notes covering works including Birdsong, Journey’s End and The Return of the Soldier.
Fiction: author of romantic and wartime fiction published through GWL Publishing.
Publishing: writer, editor and publisher associated with Great War Literature Publishing and GWL Publishing.