‘As the explosions drew nearer, the customary shit was flying all over the place with a vengeance, and I was hugging that piece of Eterville ground with more fervour than I ever hugged a woman. Sheer willpower was pushing me towards the Earth’s centre. Surely the sixth shell had now been expended? But no, the final bomb of the salvo found a target: my right leg.’

With an uncommon frankness and sense of humour, Peter Richards recalls his early experiences of the London Blitz, his unremitting military training and action in the battle for Normandy, and finally his convalescence in hospital following the serious injury in Eterville - a small town near the strategic centre of Caen - that ended his military career. He arrived home just in time to enjoy the victory celebrations, and participate in the historic general election of 1945.

His journey is one of both personal and political development, which sees him turn from a young man with little understanding of politics into a fully-fledged member of the Communist Party and later the Labour Party, combining anecdotes of his life with reflection upon the complex politics of the conflict.

Above all, this is an account that is modest, poignant and thankful, both for the author’s own luck in having lived to see peacetime and for the sacrifice of those who did not.