The author was born in a small mining village in Yorkshire in 1930. His earlier recollections of the aftermath of WW1 dominate the early chapters of the book. Educated at Leeds Boys Modern School (1941-1945) he reports on education in the late 1940s and his early acquaintance with the RAF as an Air Training Cadet leading to him joining the RAF at the age of 161/2 years as an Aircraft Apprentice at RAF Halton. Thereafter his life follows an interesting if undistinguished path as a Navigator/Bombardier and Staff Officer of some 36 years culminating in his retirement, disillusioned as a Squadron Leader, at the age of 53.