The Forbidden Zone 1940

09/06/23 • 9 min

A gripping account of a young Scottish lass caught up in the German Occupation of France. The Forbidden Zone 1940 by Anne Angelo is a heartwarming tale of Survival under terrible conditions.

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Welcome to this edition of Newsgram.

Today you’re going to meet Anne Angelo. A very brave woman who escaped from France in 1941. France was a very different country back then. In 1941 the Nazi’s occupied northern France and France’s Atlantic coastline all the way down to the border with Spain. It was a significant portion of the country and she lived in an area called “The Forbidden Zone” an area that Hitler had cordoned off and used as his springboard to invade Britain.

Anne is no longer with us but thankfully she took the time to write down her experiences back in 1949.

Hugh Hyland – She died in 1999 and then Covid came along three years ago and I was just rummaging through stuff and I came across a briefcase full of her manuscript.

That’s Hugh Hyland, Anne’s son who recently published her manuscript with the help of Xlibris. It contains a very detailed account of her life. Here is Hugh with a quick overview of his findings.

Hugh Hyland – It was divided into two sections. The first one was her being brought up in Scotland and having to escape from the clutches of her wicked father to France as a Governess in the 1930’s. The second chandre was her actually being in the Northwest of France. In 1940-1941 the Germans came through and she joined the French resistance and eventually she had to escape to get back to Scotland. That’s the basis behind everything

The two sections of her manuscript have now been compiled into two different books. The first one is called A Sprig of White Heather and a Scottish Lass where she talks about her childhood in Invergordon, Ross-shire, in the Highlands of Scotland where she lived until she was twenty. It was not a happy childhood. In fact, she says it was one of hatred, heart-break, fear, disillusionment and despair which is why she left and went to France.

Hugh Hyland – Getting out of her clutches of her father and going to Lille in the Northwest of France in the 1930’s.

And for a moment all seemed right with the world. She enjoyed France. It was there that she fell in love in a rather unusual way.

Hugh Hyland – One evening she was in a motor accident. She got run into by a British Army vehicle and that’s where she met Gerald. She fell in love with him there while the Germans were still on the other side of the border but then he had to get back to England once the Germans crossed over and the British withdrew. She was left stranded there but she was unsuccessful.

So she stayed, taking care of the house which turned into a hotel but it was still home. She also joined the French resistance. In chapter one she writes about how “Gerald came and went and life dragged on...” She saw the skies black with planes all day long and she knew she was going to lose her home one day.

Hugh Hyland – The stories got a bit of everything. Part of the story is her upbringing. finding a new life in France and also throughout Europe and the second part of the story is actually in the war and the escape and all the horrendous things that happened during the war and also the love story that intermingled with all of that.

Another thing I found interesting about this story was the various themes she explores. One of them is Nature vs. Nurture. How our lives are shaped by circumstances beyond our control. Is all this a preordained fate that we are destined to live out? Are we consciously or unconsciously in control of our lives? Are we being shaped by our environment and the choices of our parents? Here’s an excerpt from The Forbidden Zone 1940. Chapter One. “Reflections”

(Exerpt) “...What a contrast to the stark life in Scotland where I’d been brought up. Some people think we ourselves are responsible for what we become, but it’s not so. What we are is almost completely due to th...

A gripping account of a young Scottish lass caught up in the German Occupation of France. The Forbidden Zone 1940 by Anne Angelo is a heartwarming tale of Survival under terrible conditions.

Subscribe with your favorite podcast player

Apple Podcasts Android RSS

Welcome to this edition of Newsgram.

Anne is no longer with us but thankfully she took the time to write down her experiences back in 1949.

Hugh Hyland – She died in 1999 and then Covid came along three years ago and I was just rummaging through stuff and I came across a briefcase full of her manuscript.

That’s Hugh Hyland, Anne’s son who recently published her manuscript with the help of Xlibris. It contains a very detailed account of her life. Here is Hugh with a quick overview of his findings.

Hugh Hyland – Getting out of her clutches of her father and going to Lille in the Northwest of France in the 1930’s.

And for a moment all seemed right with the world. She enjoyed France. It was there that she fell in love in a rather unusual way.

Previous Episode

Cancer Mentality

Paul Brodrick found himself reassessing his life after having a bowel tumor removed five years ago. In this book, Cancer Mentality, he shares what it was like to be diagnosed with cancer, how he dealt with the fear of defective genes, and how he learned to choose his own prognosis for a cancer-free future.

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Welcome to this edition of Newsgram!

We all want to live a long and happy life don’t we? Of course we do. The problem is we are often driven by outside forces, the day-to-day influences on our life that seem to take precedence over our health — that is until it fails. Our guest today is Paul Broderick. Recently he had a complete change in his perspective on what it means to be healthy and how to live a good, long life.

Paul Broderick (Tumor) I was living what I thought was a very healthy lifestyle; Very active, eating well, doing all the right things even thinking positively actually. and then when something hit the fan and I had a diagnosis of a three inch tumor and I needed to be operated upon quite soon after I just had to figure out what the heck was going on.

Paul Broderick is the inquisitive type and it was his curiosity that inspired the writing of a book called “Cancer Mentality”. He took copious notes during his diagnosis and ordeal and is now sharing what he learned in “Cancer Mentality. The Cure for Cancer is in the Mind – Heal your Attitudes and Beliefs” it’s a title that requires a bit more explanation.

Paul Broderick – What we’re talking about now is placebo-nocebo. placebo basically says it can happen if we believe it and belief doesn’t mean an active belief even a subconscious belief nocebo is telling us that bad is going to happen and that’s what doctors are doing with such a prognosis. We can believe a diagnosis but don’t need to choose or believe the prognosis and that’s the essence of my book is that I discovered how to choose my prognosis and anybody can do that.

The power of positive thinking...you’ve heard that before but there’s a lot more to it than that. The mind is far more powerful and influential than we know. Now we are not saying that you can cure cancer with positivity but giving into it is not going to help either. Just know that anything is possible and you need to believe it. With that in mind take a hard look at your life — that’s what Paul did.

Paul Broderick – I realized by slowing my life down that I had actually been just paying lip service to all these wonderful metaphysical, new-age, spiritual ideas and in fact it’s a lovely notion that we create our own reality but in essence I wasn’t doing that work. I wasn’t meditating. I wasn’t quieting my mind. I wasn’t finding peace in my life. I was striving, working, chasing and as I write in great depth in the book I realize that I was living in fear. Everybody’s touched by cancer, you know, heart-attacks all sorts of dramatic illness. We all know somebody and so I realized that I had to stop, rethink, reinvent myself and actually start doing this work and I found it to be an enormous pleasure. Not hard work at all, it was an enormous pleasure.

Stop, rethink, reinvent and stay positive. If you stop listening now and do just that you’ll probably be on the right track but don’t stop listening yet because there’s more. Paul explains what drove him to this kind of thinking.

Paul Broderick – As I healed, as my body repaired from the surgery. I was obviously off work. I took time out and I really was searching for wholesome answers to this because I asked the medical industry. I asked the surgeon. I asked the oncologist. I asked the dietician and they had nothing for lifestyle change for me. They had nothing to help me prevent this and no disrespect to the medical industry. Their trauma treatment is fantastic. I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. But, so many great teachers out there are explaining how thoughts and emotions are now proven by science to become interactive with our physiology in a good way and a bad way.

Yes and that is due to a few different things that are now widely known. Negative thoughts and emotions can weaken our immune system, when you’re...

Next Episode

Wayne, The Nerd from Arizona

Wayne is a good kid but has always had a hard time making friends. His dad is an air force master sergeant. He travels a lot, even overseas. Now, Wayne is in a new school and feels unsure of himself. Join Wayne on his adventure from Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona, to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.

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Welcome to this edition of Newsgram.

Today’s program is dedicated to all the military families out there and anyone who has ever raised a family with a job that requires a lot of travel and frequent relocation. It can be hard on the kids, especially the ones that have trouble making new friends.

Wayne Rankin – I had bad skin. I had pimples, buck teeth. I needed braces but you can’t do anything about that. It’s just the way it is. You might see that as a flaw but people look past those flaws and real friends, true friends will look past that and continue to communicate with you.

That’s Wayne Rankin, retired Master Sergeant from the US Airforce and the real life inspiration for his new children’s book Wayne, the Nerd from Arizona.

Here’s the premise. Wayne was living on Luke Air Force Base on the west side of Phoenix, Arizona. A real place. He was born and raised there, and despite his family’s many moves, it was the only place he could truly call home. When his father was transferred to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany he found himself once again not only alone in a new city but in a new country and for Wayne making friends was not that easy. In fact, Wayne’s first day of school was a disaster. All he could think about was how little he had in common with the other kids.

Wayne Rankin – It was tough. you’re in a foreign country, not to mention not having any friends but making new friends. You don’t know anybody. You’re making new friends and trying to sort out with those friends for the next four or five years is pretty tough.

One of things that worked for Wayne was not focusing on the negative but finding the positives which is great advice for any situation.

Wayne Rankin – You’re parents or your dad is in the military and that’s life in the military, a nomad, a gypsy as they say. It’s a good experience. You got to go to a country you never dreamed about and you gotta make some friends because you’re on your own, an island and that’s that.

And the book is great for five to eight year olds who find themselves in this situation because it demonstrates how that’s done...or at least what worked for Wayne.

Wayne Rankin – It goes to that period where kids are trying to check you out and see what you’re made of and if you’re gonna make it or not. You feel very alone but that’s only a temporary situation. Eventually somebody is gonna gravitate towards you and you gotta make a friend.

We’ve all been there. Can you remember your first day of school, moving to a new neighborhood or even starting a new job. Human nature takes over and some people thrive in that environment but if you’re an introvert it may be more challenging so Wayne’s book is a tool for helping kids to understand that. Meet Anita...

Wayne Rankin – She tells him that, you can be anybody. Be yourself. Be true to yourself. You don’t have to change to be this or that, appealing to different groups. She looks past his flaws or what he perceives as flaws, his crooked teeth and his bad skin and says Look, I’m just here to be your friend because of who you are. You gotta realize that everything is temporary and you might have crooked teeth but they’re got braces. You might have bad skin but now they’ve got soap that clears up that stuff. It’s just temporary. You change. Your body changes. You’re just going through those awkward moments in your life where kids try to pick on you but that doesn’t last long.

We tell our kids this stuff all the time but what do we know, right? They may listen but do they hear us? This way they get good advice from someone like Anita that they can relate to.

Wayne Rankin – You know what? There’s another kid just like you feeling the same way and another kid and another kid and these kids all gather together and group together and they form their own group. The Nerd Herd.

Not to give too much away here but the story does have a happy ending. Wayne and his friends evolve from caterpillars to b...