'˜Great untold story' of war now in print

The Glorious Dead is the second novel by Boston’s Tim Atkinson, an ex-teacher at Kesteven and Sleaford High School.

It was released on Thursday after receiving enough financial support through the crowdfunding website Unbound.

A fictional story, it is set in the aftermath of the First World War.

Tim, who visited Ypres and northern France while researching the book, said: “When the guns fell silent in November 1918, that was just the start of the story for hundreds of British Tommies, many of whom had served in the war but now chose to stay on rather than go home. Their job was searching the old battlefields and burying fallen comrades.

“I had no idea of their existence until talking to a friend about his grandfather’s wartime service – and lifelong disability. It turns out he’d been gassed – in 1919, long after the shells had stopped firing. What happened was he accidentally released poison gas trapped in an old trench while searching for the bodies of men missing in action.”

Buy Tim’s book at Amazon and other websites.