Overview

Mike Peyton lied about his age to enlist, worried that the war would be over before he had a chance to join in. After training, he initially fought in the Western Desert, where he was captured and shipped to Italy and then Germany. He escaped in Germany and walked east until he found the Russian Red Army with whom he fought for the rest of the war. With a grave sense of humour, Peyton takes you through the horror and death, alongside the camaraderie and excitement.

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9781909911123

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""Casually illuminating ... so full of bizare incident that it is hard to know where to start. Some of it is chillingly, and killingly, funny. Death was an accepted lottery and Peyton shows how cheerfully men despatched the enemy when they got the chance."" (Tony Clements, Daily Telegraph ""There is nothing average about this fascinating memoir. Although much of the content is necessarily grim, Peyton relates his experiences with a light, often funny, touch. This serves to play down what must have been horific incidents in many cases."" Sheila Weber, The Northern Echo

Casually illuminating ... so full of bizare incident that it is hard to know where to start. Some of it is chillingly, and killingly, funny. Death was an accepted lottery and Peyton shows how cheerfully men despatched the enemy when they got the chance. (Tony Clements, Daily Telegraph There is nothing average about this fascinating memoir. Although much of the content is necessarily grim, Peyton relates his experiences with a light, often funny, touch. This serves to play down what must have been horific incidents in many cases. Sheila Weber, The Northern Echo; 'This book is a memoir of a far from average experience of World War II. From hearing the declaration of war in a bicycle shop, experiences of joining up and then to the desert war and on to a PoW camp, this is an infantry man's account of life and death as must have been experienced by many on both sides. Later shipped to Germany and liberated by the advancing Russians, the author writes with an authentic recall of events and of friends lost and made... a worm's eye view of army life in wartime and a very good read.' (Little Ship Club).

Casually illuminating ... so full of bizare incident that it is hard to know where to start. Some of it is chillingly, and killingly, funny. Death was an accepted lottery and Peyton shows how cheerfully men despatched the enemy when they got the chance. (Tony Clements, Daily Telegraph There is nothing average about this fascinating memoir. Although much of the content is necessarily grim, Peyton relates his experiences with a light, often funny, touch. This serves to play down what must have been horific incidents in many cases. Sheila Weber, The Northern Echo

Author Information

Mike Peyton lied about his age to join the Army at the start of the Second World War. He spent much of the war in a prisoner of war camp, but escaped to join and fight with the Russian Red Army. He worked as a freelance cartoonist and has had over 18 books of yachting cartoons published and in 2016 was dubbed ‘the Picasso of sailing’ by the Yachting Journalist Association. He passed away in late January 2017, a few days after his 96th birthday.

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