My name is James O'Connell, I am the author of '3 Days in June'.

I was born in 1960 in the small borough of Bootle which at the time was part of Lancashire but is now part of Merseyside, it was quite a deprived area, but I had a wonderful family, we were relatively poor, but so was everyone else,  I enjoyed a lot of freedom as a  child and loved going off with my mates, we lived quite close to the docks, my father James O'Connell was an ex-professional boxer and then a dock worker,  my mother worked in a margarine factory, I was the second eldest of seven, four girls and three boys. I was always interested in the military.
My father had did National Service in the Royal Signals, and my grandfather John O'Connell had served in WW1, where he survived the sinking of the RMS Lusitania and then joined the Royal Navy, later during WW2 he served in the Auxillary Fire Service, through the May Blitz in 1941, during which Merseyside was bombed almost every night. 1,900 people were killed, 1,450 seriously wounded and 70,000 made homeless. My granddad's family were bombed out of three homes, but each time they just moved into another empty house, as so many people had left the borough for the safety of the countryside.
My first taste of the military was the Army Cadet Force, in 1971, I joined the Royal Artillery ACF based in Enbutt Lane Crosby. I really enjoyed the friendship, training and discipline. In 1976 I left school and ended up working in a margarine factory, it was while working there, I joined the Territorial Army (4 Para) based in Walton Vale, once again I enjoyed training and order that the military brings, it was here I decided to join the regular army, enlisting at the New Strand Bootle recruiting office, this was the best decision I have ever made, even though I was injured, I have never regretted joining.
In early 1985, I left the army due to my injuries, it was a difficult transition, I married and we had two boys, but at the time there were very few jobs in Liverpool, especially for one-eyed paratroopers, I eventually ended up driving a Black Cab in Liverpool, and in time, I built up a small business of several cabs and drivers, I did this for 23 years.
However my first love was the army and I look back on my army days with great fondness, the people I've met and had the honour to serve with, will always stay with me.
I  still keep in touch with the blokes through the power of social media and enjoy meeting whenever possible, but these days it's mainly at funerals.