CHARACTERS

• CAPTAIN FRED ROBERTS


  Charismatic editor of The Wipers Times, former mining engineer, adventurer, and gambler with a suppressed horror of war.
• LIEUTENANT JACK PEARSON


  Deputy and sub-editor of The Wipers Times, a laconic foil to Roberts with a keen interest in alcohol.
• SERGEANT TYLER


  Former Fleet Street printer, Mr Fixit, and publisher of The Wipers Times, gruff with a dry sense of humor and a passion for printing.
• PRIVATE DODD


  The youngest of Roberts's men, new to the front line, with a lot to learn about life in the trenches, grows up fast.
• PRIVATE HENDERSON


  Worked on tunneling the London Underground, mischievous sense of humor that lands him in trouble.
• PRIVATE BARNES


  Henderson's best mate, former coal miner, down-to-earth soldier with hidden sensitivity and a natural poet.
• GENERAL MITFORD


  Roberts's commanding officer, a father-figure, and keen supporter and defender of The Wipers Times.
• LIEUTENANT COLONEL HOWFIELD


  Robert's immediate superior, fiercely opposed to The Wipers Times, lacking a sense of humor and understanding.
• KATE ROBERTS


  Fred Roberts's wife, a teacher, who supports him and tries to understand the reality of his wartime experiences.
• DEPUTY EDITOR, DAILY NEWS

  Over-worked and over-dramatic, unimpressed by wartime exploits largely because he didn't fight.
• LADY SOMERSBY


  Fierce supporter of the Temperance Movement, close 'friend' of Lloyd George, wants alcohol banned from the trenches.
• MADAM FIFI


  Alluring, seductive hostess who runs Fifi's Bar in Ameins, where Roberts goes on leave.
• HILAIRE BELLOC


  Famous author of Cautionary Rhymes, dubbed Belary Helloc by The Wipers Times for his patriotic, jingoistic accounts of the war.
• WILLIAM BEACH THOMAS


  The Daily Mail's war Correspondent, mocked as Teach Bomas by The Wipers Times, later knighted.