Clock Tower Books To Host Book Signing: TOM – A Life Saved – Lives Lost

Clock Tower Books in Georgetown will host a book signing at 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 2 for “Tom: A Life Saved; Lives Lost!” written by Georgetown County resident Goffinet (Hutton) McLaren.

      McLaren’s father, Thomas Hardy Hutton, joined Britain's Royal Air Force during WWII.and

returning from a bombing run to Czechoslovakia in April, 1943, he bailed out of his burning Lancaster bomber.. McLaren's book tells the unique story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied Belgium and France with the help of members of the Resistance Movement and Special Operations Executive (SOE).  These British World War II organizations conducted espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance of occupied Europe against the Axis powers, aided by local resistance movements.

      The book covers the major events leading up to the war, the vital role played by Northern Ireland, the blitzing of Belfast, the welcome arrival of the Yanks in Northern Ireland after Pearl Harbor, some major beauty spots of the little country, the important alliance of Winston Churchill, President Roosevelt and General Dwight Eisenhower in defeating Hitler and the origin of the author’s special given name, Goffinet.

      As the 70th anniversary of the WWII victory approaches in April, 2015, this true story of a British airman serves as a reminder of those dark days in the 1940’s when the Allies pulled together as one unit to defeat the Nazi dictator.

     Author Goffinet McLaren was born in 1945 in Northern Ireland, where she grew up before coing to reside in Litchfield, Pawleys Island.

     Clock Tower Books is at 105 Screven Street, just a few doors from Front Street in downtown Georgetown.