Thomas: a First World War Story of Great Compassion and Courage That Crosses the Class Divide

Publisher Marketing: 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? Contributor Bio:  Welham, Mike Mike Welham has published with mainstream publishers and been commissioned to write specialist non-fiction works, as well as self-publishing books about the military, law and justice. His first two books were published in 1989 with two more following in 1990. Others have followed over the intervening years. Now writing under the banner of Welham Books he has entered the world of fiction. Following the publishing of his first novel Death of a Scientist and the positive response it received, he decided to write a follow up, based on the same theme. His second thriller WTC Building 7 follows the hero Dan Pierce, a former French Foreign Legion sniper and now a mercenary, into a world of corruption, greed and assassinations. Mike is working on a further two novels which will be published in the winter of 2014 and the spring of 2015. Further information can be found on www.welhambooks.com