HORRIFIC memories of the Siege of Tobruk told by a war veteran shortly before his death have inspired a new play by his Herefordshire grandson.

Writer and co-founder of Hereford’s Open Sky Productions, Lisle Turner, wrote Scorched to mark the 75th anniversary of the battle at Tobruk in 1941, where his decorated grandfather had fought and lost friends.

He bore the scars for the rest of his life but refused to speak about the atrocities until shortly before his death in 1992.

“Jack, despite having been in Tobruk and El Alamein, didn’t talk about his experiences for 50 years even though there were medals in a case.

“One summer I happened to be staying with my grandparents and he started to talk all of a sudden. He could not stop himself. I didn’t know at the time that it was the onset of dementia and his death, unfortunately.

“He started to have these very vivid and irrepressible memories about the war and friends he lost. It was very moving and gave me a clear insight into why he became the man he became,” said Lisle, who lives in Kingsthorne.

He said his grandfather would have liked Scorched, set in a care home in 1991 and told from ‘Jack’s’ armchair.

At the same time the Gulf War was raging and Lisle said he found a “synchronicity” between Tobruk and his own friends’ experiences in the Gulf.

It’s a timeless tale and one Lisle would like to see end.

“We must not lose sight of the fact young boys are sent off to war. It’s a relevant subject today because a lot of violence happens at the hands of man. There are still young British men in the Middle East. It’s never really stopped. That’s a lot of families who have been affected. We need to consider that in our foreign policy,” said Lisle.

Scorched uses new writing, physical theatre, period music, puppetry and projection to create a “hazardous journey of remembrance.”

Directed by Lisle’s partner, Claire Coaché, Scorched will be at The Courtyard in Hereford on Friday, July 15 and Saturday, 16 at 7pm.

It will be a highlight of the Edinburgh Fringe when it is performed for a month at festival Zoo Venues, run by fellow Herefordian James Mckenzie.