April 2nd, 1982.
War is declared in the Falklands and Anna, a young girl from Burnage, is terrified. To further add to her woes, her parents are about to cut down her ‘story tree,’ a place that has become so special to her and her grandfather. Seeking answers and looking for comfort, she turns to her Grandpa Bert and begins to question him about his time in the Great War – something that he has vowed never to speak of again – but why?
However, fearing he may not have many more chances to share this story, he begins to tell his granddaughter the whole tale…from the very beginning.
August 5th, 1914.
England wakes to learn that war has been declared in Europe. In the small town of Burnage, Manchester, we meet young Bert and his best pal, Greville and witness their journey into the trenches, the people they meet and the bravery they demonstrate in the lead-up to the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Sorely missed by the worried Ada and Edith back home in Burnage, Bert struggles to come to terms with life on the battlefield.
But his courage grows in the very same way that his comrades, Dougie, Reg, Greville, Alf, Harry, Frank and Davey’s does. As they prepare to fight and defend their king and country, we soon learn how each and every one of them becomes a root in the Tree of War – the very same tree that all those years later, Anna is trying to save.