It can be argued that nothing good, not one damned thing, came out of World War I. This play is a pillar of that contention. Based on a true story of a young soldier who was returned home so badly damaged he was unrecognisable, apart from a single tattoo, Patient 12 tells the story through the eyes of the doctor who becomes embroiled in the mystery of this soldier's identity and starts a forensic journey to identify this man.