Billy's War

What on earth can being at war mean to a nine-year-old? Not much, you might think, but if the boy in question is a war orphan...A child in war-torn Britain embarks on a quest to rediscover his lost happiness: the date is Thursday 8 May 1941, and Britain has been at war with Nazi Germany for 19 months. Billy Frecknall is only nine years old, but what a character he turns out to be! Like many boys of his age, Billy to all intents and purposes no longer has a Dad, because his father...
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What on earth can being at war mean to a nine-year-old? Not much, you might think, but if the boy in question is a war orphan...A child in war-torn Britain embarks on a quest to rediscover his lost happiness: the date is Thursday 8 May 1941, and Britain has been at war with Nazi Germany for 19 months. Billy Frecknall is only nine years old, but what a character he turns out to be! Like many boys of his age, Billy to all intents and purposes no longer has a Dad, because his father enlisted in the army in the early days of the war, and Billy and his Mum don't even know where he is. But that night sees the biggest air raid Billy's home town of Nottingham has experienced, and there are many casualties, including Billy's Mum. Billy is fortunate to survive, but life as an orphan, especially an orphan being brought up in an apparently hostile family, leaves a lot to be desired. What can a little boy in that situation do? Grin and bear it? That would be the only option for many. But what if the little boy in question is resilient, resourceful, intelligent and, above all, driven? Driven by a desire which becomes an obsession, and aided by the innocence of a child of his time, which means that he trusts everyone until he has reason to think otherwise, he sets off to find his Dad. In the course of his quest he faces up to many obstacles that would have caused a less resourceful boy to blanch and give up, but he doesn't - and he is blessed also with a charisma that makes most people he encounters take his side without hesitation. If you read his story, you'll quickly see why Billy captures so many hearts and, with all the odds apparently stacked against him, wins his war.Billy's War is dedicated to the memory of the twenty-three people who really did lose their lives in the air-raid shelter in Dakeyne Street, Nottingham on Thursday 8 May 1941, killed by German bombs which the author, himself eight years old at the time, heard falling from the safety of his home not more than two miles away.