Billy’s War

Billy Atherton volunteered to join the British Army at its darkest hour in 1942 to defend his country and his family. The point of World War 2 when Britain was staring defeat in the face. He participated in bloody and desperate events starting on the beach at D-day and ending at Belsen.

When Billy reached Germany in 1945 Hitler committed suicide, when he set off to fight Japan Hirohito surrendered. This left him stranded halfway, in Jerusalem, and there his real troubles began. Billy was placed between two rival factions, each determined to make Palestine their own, in a new war he didn’t begin to understand and wanted no part in. He just wanted to go home.

It's the tale of a simple man finding himself in the midst of great events. Not only does he have little influence on those events but most of the time he has little or no knowledge of what is happening. He even struggles to fight his way through his own life, as he loses his friends and health.

He does, however, come into contact with others who are shaping the new nation that is emerging from the chaos, in a heady mix in which conflict and friendship become intertwined and confused.