A COLLECTION of poems and short stories inspired by World War Two has been compiled into a book by a group of Oldbury writers.

The Oldbury Writing Group wrote From Sunrise to Sunset: A World War Two Anthology which focuses on people and their individual experiences, rather than the war as a whole.

It features a wide range of characters and themes including a grieving mother, a Spitfire pilot, women of the war, POW camps, the fall of Warsaw and contributions made by people from the Caribbean and Asia.

Founder of the Oldbury Writing Group, Angela Garratt said the group had decided to start writing the book together in 2015, the year which commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War ll.

She said: “We believe it is important to remember the fallen, not just because of the war in general, but because each person who fell was an individual no different to you or me. Their lives were just as important and they had people who loved them and whom they loved.

“Sometimes I think some people forget that when they see the number of the people killed, which was 60 million, these individuals who died, from anywhere in the world, friend or foe, just become another number."

She added: “I don’t believe that. I know these people had a life of their own, a life that they deserved to live, and that is what this book is about.

"Although it is fictitious, it is based on true events and it portrays individual lives, the roles they played in the war and how they must have felt."

From Sunrise to Sunset: A World War Two Anthology' will be launched at Oldbury Library, Jack Judge House, Halesowen Street, Oldbury on Saturday.

The group will be at Brandhall Library, Tame Road, Oldbury, between noon and 2pm on Saturday, May 13

For more information visit oldburywritinggroup.wordpress.com.