Former regional press editor Geoff Elliott has written a local history book for the community in Devon where he now lives.

Colyton at War is a collection of personal stories about wartime in the countryside, including a detailed reconstruction of the shooting-down of a German bomber, whose four crew scattered around the villages looking for someone to surrender to.

Geoff is the former editor of the Kent Messenger, Coventry Evening Telegraph and Portsmouth News, and also a founding member of the Society of Editors.

He moved to east Devon after three years as head of journalism at the University of Central Lancashire. He was the last president of the Guild of Editors and in 1999 the first of the new Society of Editors. He was later made a Fellow of the Society and appointed CBE for services to journalism.

The book was launched at an event attended by more than 200 people who enjoyed a show of wartime songs and sketches.

He said: "The whole project has been great fun. It has been pure journalism. I now realise how much I miss it.

"The stories I have found are touching and humorous and revealing of country life now slipping beyond our memories. I am delighted to have contributed to the social history of my new home county."