A KINGSEAT author has used a biscuit tin full of medals and a family member's World War One heroics as the inspiration for his first book.

Robert Milne, 67, has self-published Townhill Boys, a historical fiction about three friends from the village who go off to fight for their country.

He's based part of the tale on the real-life experiences of his great uncle Robbie, who was killed at the Battle of the Somme in September 1916 and whose name is on the village's war memorial.

Robert explained: "It would have been easy to portray my relative as the main character and the great hero in this book but I didn’t want to confuse or detract from what he was, just a normal young man.

"So I have tried to spread the heroics, achievements, hopes and the pain across the three friends, rather than paint one as a hero and the others as supporting characters."

Townhill Boys follows the exploits of Robbie, Scotty and Kenny from their formative days in the village, to joining the 9th Battalion of the Black Watch and going to France to fight the enemy, and the aftermath when only two of them come home.

"It occurred to me that the basic tenet of the story, young boys concealing their age in order to go to war, would resonate with many families, not just mine.

"So while the book is dedicated to my great uncle, it is also for the hundreds of thousands like him who gave their lives and the many millions, military and civilians alike, who survived, and who had to rebuild their lives from the rubble."

Robert, a retired former police officer, said: "The only characters that are factual in the book are Robbie and his family. The rest are products of my imagination.

"Once I started trying to write the book, I thought it needed more depth to avoid a narrative that was too narrow which is why I developed the theme of three friends.

"The three friends who unexpectedly join the army for the adventure of war and for two at least, to escape the pressures at home.

"You can find out about the big picture of what happened from the history books but not what it was like in the trenches for the men who went to war.

"It's never documented in any great detail so that's where I have to rely on my imagination."

Robert's grandparents stayed in Townhill, at 20 Main Street, and he first heard the story of his great uncle when he was 10.

He said: "My grandfather, James, emphasised that it was important that I remember his brother, after all, I was named after him.

"Since then, the story has stuck with me and in some respects, it has been a part of my life ever since."

Robbie was underage, 17, as legally you had to be 18 to sign up and 19 to be deployed overseas.

If they had waited for the call-up, it would have been James who went, as the eldest son, and Robbie would have ended up as a miner instead.

Robert said: "He came home once and the family went over to Edinburgh to see him but he never came back.

"He died at the Battle of the Somme on September 11, 1916."

Although aware of the story from a young age, the discovery of his great uncle's medals "in an old McVitie’s Digestive biscuit tin", as he helped his parents move house in the 1980s, made him want to find out more.

"The military medal had been unveiled earlier in 1916 and he was the first solider from that battalion of the Black Watch to receive it.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't find out why he won it as the MoD said the records were destroyed during bombing in World War Two."

Robert later tracked down and visited his relative's grave, in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Achiet le Grand in France, north-east of Paris.

He has also visited the Menin Gate, a war memorial to the missing in Ypres, Belgium – around 90,000 soldiers who were killed have no graves.

"My father, also Robert, gave me custody of the medals, together with a minute copy of a bible (apparently issued to all soldiers) and a photograph of my great uncle and my grandfather from 1914.

"This is the photograph that is now the front cover of the book, depicting two Townhill Boys but not the Townhill Boys from the storyline.

"Along with the medals and photograph I was also given the bronze plaque, often referred to as the death plaque, presented to the families of fallen soldiers.

"So, from the outset, I was trying to fulfil my obligation to remember and also to capture the story of my great uncle but along the way, I think I have touched on a typical story of many young men of the time who were caught up in the moment."

Townhill Boys touches on life in West Fife a century ago, the boys enjoying simple pleasures such as walking down Townhill Road to go swimming at the Carnegie pool, as well as the surge of national pride that prompted so many men to sign up for battle and the shambles that awaited them, such as having to go through basic training in their own clothes and without weapons.

Robert said: "Some of the things I discovered during my research just makes you shake your head.

"The army seemed utterly unprepared and surprised that war broke out."

It also hits upon an issue that's still relevant today, the quest for a pardon for those soldiers who endured the horrors of war and were, almost certainly, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when they were shot for cowardice and desertion.

Robert said: "The British Army executed so many of their soldiers (306 during the conflict) compared to the Germans, 25, and the French, a similar number.

"There were a lot of men wandering about with shellshock due to the gunfire and explosions, and didn't know what they were doing or why.

"But they didn't get any treatment and if they looked physically fit they were sent back to the frontline.

"If they walked the wrong way they were arrested, tried and shot."

Townhill Boys is available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats.