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Willie's War
Paul Watkins
The remarkable true story of a New Zealand soldier who fought through the Somme, Messines and Passchendaele. Combining family history with extensive battlefield research, Willie’s War brings one ordinary Kiwi’s extraordinary First World War journey vividly to life.
Willie’s War tells the true story of William Watkins, a New Zealand soldier of the 2nd Auckland Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), who fought on the Western Front during the First World War.
Serving for almost nineteen months in France and Belgium, Willie fought through some of the war’s most significant battles, including the Somme, Messines, Passchendaele, and the German Spring Offensive of 1918. During that final offensive, he was mortally wounded, evacuated to England, and died from his injuries twenty-five days later on ANZAC Day, aged just thirty.
Drawing on extensive military records, family history, battlefield research, and a personal journey across England, France, and Belgium, this book reconstructs Willie’s wartime experience and the life he left behind in New Zealand. It follows him from enlistment through the trenches of the Western Front to the hospital where his life came to an end.
Where to buy
Available direct from the author (paul@paulwatkins.co.nz) or via Amazon.
Willie's War
Paul Watkins
The remarkable true story of a New Zealand soldier who fought through the Somme, Messines and Passchendaele. Combining family history with extensive battlefield research, Willie’s War brings one ordinary Kiwi’s extraordinary First World War journey vividly to life.
Willie’s War tells the true story of William Watkins, a New Zealand soldier of the 2nd Auckland Battalion, New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), who fought on the Western Front during the First World War.
Serving for almost nineteen months in France and Belgium, Willie fought through some of the war’s most significant battles, including the Somme, Messines, Passchendaele, and the German Spring Offensive of 1918. During that final offensive, he was mortally wounded, evacuated to England, and died from his injuries twenty-five days later on ANZAC Day, aged just thirty.
Drawing on extensive military records, family history, battlefield research, and a personal journey across England, France, and Belgium, this book reconstructs Willie’s wartime experience and the life he left behind in New Zealand. It follows him from enlistment through the trenches of the Western Front to the hospital where his life came to an end.
Where to buy
Available direct from the author (paul@paulwatkins.co.nz) or via Amazon.