Armistice Day, November 11, 1940

The free world is at war with Germany and Italy. Japan is fighting in China with Hitler pressing her to join the war against the Allies: turning a European conflict into the Second World War.

The Blue-Funnel liner 'Automedon' lies 250 miles from the northwest cape of Sumatra, heading for Penang. 16-year-old deckboy, Frank Walker, watches a smudge of smoke on the horizon turn into a ship heading directly for them. Tension peaks on the 'Automedon' when the approaching ship hoists a Swastika battle ensign and reveals herself as the German Surface raider, 'Atlantis'. She bombards and then boards the 'Automedon'.

The secret papers the Germans found on board gave Japan the final push to plan and attack the U.S. Fleet in Pearl Harbour a year later.

But why were these secret documents on board?

Was it a grave mistake by the British War Cabinet- or was it part of a Churchill conspiracy to get America into the war? Evidence exists for either possibility.

Frank Walker spent the next five years as a POW in Germany. Years later, a bench is named in his memory at Mariners' Park, situated on the banks of the River Mersey. It attracts Author Peter Thomson's curiousity. He asks, 'Who is Frank Walker? That small spark led to a thorough investigation into the seaman's life and the role of the 'Automedon' in Japan's decision to come to war on the side of Germany in 1941..

Mistake or conspiracy? Thomson's findings are inside the book.

Frank's bench reads like fiction, but it is wholly factual! These things really happened!