A biographical account of a truly brave man from the slums of Oldham who, after being detained for several years at an industrial school, joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers at the age of fourteen. He immediately experienced several skirmishes in India, followed by continuous fighting against the Boers in Africa.
 After a brief interlude in the Royal Navy and in Civvy Street, he re-enlisted in the early weeks of the First World War and endured the many horrors of Gallipoli and Mesopotamia (Iraq).
 Although most of the narrative is based on fact, certain questions are raised which are left for the reader to speculate upon.