Found: Trial of ex-soldier who kills in self - defence. By Nevil Shute?

This is a book that I read in the seventies or eighties, and I think that it dated from the fifties. The situation was that there was a pub brawl - but the man who was attacked was a former World War II soldier - commando, I think - and his instinctive retaliation kills his assailant. Because he is so trained, this counts as "with a deadly weapon" under British law. So since he was "armed" and his assailant was not, this counts as a disproportionate response, and he is charged with murder, rather than this being "self-defence".

I remember the outcome being the defence successfully arguing that it is the British Army that bears responsibility, since they took an ordinary man and made him capable of killing, instinctively, with his best hands.

>1 -pilgrim-: This is a sub plot in a book called" The Chequer Board " - as you say, by Neville Shute. I last read this in about 1970 when I was at university and read the entire Neville Shute library rather than going to lectures on power systems modelling. I've never regretted it.
It's a jolly good read and I hope you enjoy it again.

>2 reimann: Yes, now that you have said the title, I am absolutely sure that you are right. Thank you! And with that recommendation I am even more eager to reread...