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.
