SuitabookWar and psychological strain
Allan enters the war enthusiastically but is profoundly affected by months in the trenches and by witnessing deaths.
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Book details
John Wilson - Author
This is a wartime historical story centred on a soldier facing the consequences of leaving his unit. It combines battlefield danger, bereavement, uncertainty and moral pressure rather than presenting war as straightforward adventure.
Sentenced to death for abandoning his unit, a soldier recounts the events leading up to his arrest. The reality of trench warfare is a shock to Allan McBride. Like many other young soldiers, he enthusiastically signed up for the chance to join the war effort and be a part of the fighting. But after months in the ravaged battlefields, watching men, including his friend Ken, get blown up by German shelling, something in Allan snaps and he leaves his unit, believing he is "walking home to Canada" to get help for his friend. After nearly a week of wandering aimlessly, Allan is taken in by a band of real deserters - men who have abandoned their units and live on the edge of survival in the woods of northern France. Once Allan realizes what he's done, he is paralyzed by the reality of his circumstance: if he stays with these men, it's possible they will be found and have to face the consequences; and if he returns to his unit, he will be charged with desertion - a charge punishable by death.
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Sign in for personalised guidanceThis is a wartime historical story centred on a soldier facing the consequences of leaving his unit. It combines battlefield danger, bereavement, uncertainty and moral pressure rather than presenting war as straightforward adventure.
Allan enters the war enthusiastically but is profoundly affected by months in the trenches and by witnessing deaths.
Allan leaves his unit, joins deserters temporarily and must weigh staying with them against returning to face a charge punishable by death.
Allan witnesses Ken being killed by shelling and later wanders before finding temporary refuge with deserters surviving in the woods.
The book includes wartime violence and loss: men are blown up by shelling, battlefields are described as ravaged, and deserting soldiers face life-threatening conditions and possible execution.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: some draft conclusions still depend on unresolved evidence.
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