Thomas: A First World War Story of Great Compassion and Courage that Crosses the Class Divide

ISBN-13: 9781500902513 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 318 str.

Mike Welham

Opis

Thomas becomes disillusioned with the war on the Western Front - where he endures boredom, lice, mud, shells, lack of food, a scarcity of ammunition, and the mass slaughter of 'over the top' assaults. Having been wounded rescuing a comrade, he returns to England.

In a conversation with Lord Overbury, his pre-war employer and Colonel of the London Rifle Regiment, Thomas poses the possibility of undertaking a covert operation behind enemy lines in order to attack ammunition depots and armaments factories. His vision is to do this in a daring raid aboard a boat travelling along the River Rhine. Against all odds, approval is given and a special group is selected to prepare for the mission.

Thomas had been born into poverty but after losing his parents, his job and home, a quirk of fate brings him to the estate of Lord Overbury and his daughter, Lady Clarissa. Crossing the class divide, a friendship develops between Thomas and Clarissa - as well as between Thomas and the cook's daughter, Rosie. Rosie's deceased father was German and it is she who teaches Thomas to speak the language.

Clarissa becomes a nurse on the front line. When the covert operation takes place, she goes along as the group's nurse, with Rosie also onboard as cook and German speaker. The drama unfolds, leaving in its wake success, love, death - and the inevitable question... was it all worth while?