This is a family saga spanning three generations. I asked Jake what his earliest family memory was. Without hesitation he said that it was the death of his grandfather by the hand of an Italian sniper in WW1, then he hesitated and added that, of course, he had not yet been born.

This event, and the outcome of WW1, reverberated throughout his life. It shattered the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it shattered the family and it resulted in his family fleeing from Budapest, Hungary. As the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, they fled to Alexandria, Egypt where Jake was born. In Egypt it seemed that life settled to normality and the family members put their lives back together again. But WW2, family death and the creation of Israel again shattered their lives. Seeking a secure home, fled to safety in Rhodesia. What remained of the family found a new home. As Jake grew to manhood his adopted country slipped into a struggle for independence by the majority and, again, the family was overrun by events as a civil war intensified. A story of adversity, of endeavour, of fortitude and of optimism but predominantly of the love of family.