42 Mile point

By Ian Groat

A historical perspective

In 1932, the emerging Nazi party, who were always short of money, came into funds for militarisation which sparked the Second World War. This historical novel explores one of the options available to the Third Reich as many kilogrammes of desert diamonds could have been secreted away by German sympathisers around the Port of Lüderitz in the then, South West Africa.

History enthusiast

Ian Groat

Ian groat is known for his evocative narrative that makes you feel like you’re having a cup of coffee with the author as he tells you the story. His recounting of detail is always set at a great pace which makes reading his stories amusing and very hard to put down.

Ian Groat Working at his desk
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In 1932, the emerging Nazi party, who were always short of money, came into funds for militarisation which sparked the Second World War. This historical novel explores one of the options available to the Third Reich as many kilogrammes of desert diamonds could have been secreted away by German sympathisers around the Port of Lüderitz in the then, South West Africa.

Who is Ian Groat

History enthusiast

Ian Groat was born in Lincoln, England in 1945 and was a war “boom” baby. With a Royal Air Force Warrant Scots Officer for a Dad and an Irish Mother, Ian endured the privilege of 10 religious schools before being spat out at age 15, with a postage stamp set of qualifications and education standard.

After various jobs through the years, coupled with a minimalist wage, emigration to the beckoning new world of South Africa was achieved in 1969. After leaving the damp and disappointing lump of coal in the North Sea, Ian arrived in South Africa with just twenty kilogrammes of luggage and his newly wed wife, Valerie, where they began their new chapter in their life together.

Thankfully a burst at Wits University re-educated and gave this dyslexic wonder a degree in marketing. However, being a hobbyist motor sport photographer and eventually a columnist for Bike SA publisher, Simon Fourie in the seventies increased the passion and insight into publishing. In 1985 Concorde Publications was formed.

Concorde Publications began to produce the Automotive Refinisher magazine – a technical journal for auto body repairers which has remained successful for almost four decades, adapting its platforms along the way.

Driven by a fascination to report on the wider edges of the world, the Namibian fictional story that Ian has written is the result of many business trips and family holidays taken in the expanse of this wonderful wilderness culture and a glimpse of its fascinating harsh way of life. With all its diverse inhabitants and dreams – some achieved and others dashed – the underlying theme of this story of fiction from the 1930’s era is largely a fictionalised piece to convey the scene way back then as Germany began to rebuild after the great war ended.

Bio

Ian Groat is an award winning photo-journalist. He has over five decades of publishing experience and has written many periodicals and articles for various South African and overseas publications. This is his first historical novel and it lets his evocative story telling abilities loose. He has always had a passion for history and digging deeper under the surface to discover the truth.

Career

Ian’s writing career developed later in life as a “hobby on the side”. Even as a school kid he was taking pictures on his Brownie camera and documenting races and the ways of life around him. He has always been reporting and photographing local and overseas motorsport and has for almost four decades published his own collision repair specific magazine which is still ongoing. His passion for the person behind the photograph and reaching the heart of the matter is what has always made him look for the deeper story and understanding.

Writing Style

His writing style is a unique blend of “iceberg” and “catholic”. Being a wartime baby meant that education took a back seat and so rules and regulations of writing haven’t been instilled to obliviate creativity. Ian has a clever way of teasing you with an eighth of what you need to know and then the rest – like the most of the iceberg below the water – remains up to the reader to ponder over.

Personal Life

Ian has been married to Valerie for over five decades and has two children, Claire and Jay, as well as two granddaughters, Sarah and Aeva. He still enjoys working hard and being involved in the business of publishing.

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