Jo Hook

Biography

Jo’s father served during WWII with the Royal Engineers as a cartographer (he drew very fine maps of the Western Desert – something which had never properly been mapped before) . Jo’s grandfather served during WW1 and she therefore grew up avidly listening to her father’s tales of the Second World War and thus a passion in military history was born.  In 1986 Jo spent 3 years working with the Ministry of Defence in Hong Kong which allowed her to widen her interest in military history.  In 1994 she joined the Territorial Army (Royal Signals) and it was here that Jo had the opportunity to arrange battlefield tours.  In 1995 she spent time on Operations in Bosnia.  A subsequent move to Germany allowed Jo to concentrate on guiding German based British Military Groups specifically to study Operation Market Garden. At the same time Jo also returned to the UK to accompany UK based groups to both WW1 and WWII battlefields.   Jo has also worked closely with the Normandy Veterans Association accompanying many of the veterans back to Normandy for the 6 June commemoration weekends as well as returning with Arnhem Veterans back to the battlefields of Holland.   Having served both on operations and having experienced life as an Army wife with a husband on operations Jo understands the perspective of soldiers on the battlefield and the viewpoint of families at home as well as gaining an insight to the comparison between latter day soldiers and the life of the soldier on the modern day battlefield.   Jo joined the Guild of Battlefield Guides in 2006 and attained badged status (Badge Number 48) in October 2010 and at the same time took over the role as Events Co-ordinator for the Guild.  When time permits she also undertakes book reviews for Soldier Magazine and has been involved in typing up memoirs for the Paradata Archive.  She is also in the middle of trying to attain a History Degree through the Open University – something she will one day finish! In 2010 Jo took part in the Help for Heroes Bridge Too Far Bike Ride as one of the battlefield guides and is also currently involved with the Wenches in the Trenches sponsored walk project in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund.  This year Jo has also started working for Anglia Battlefield Tours predominantly with school tours something which she enjoys very much and finds extremely satisfying. Her main passion in life is ensuring that the story of the soldier and the sacrifices made by those who fought throughout history should not be forgotten.  Her ambition is to try to track down the maps her father (an accomplished artist) drew in the Second World War and maybe one day to try and write a book.