It is fortunate that Pilot Officer Arthur Hughes decided to disregard regulations and keep a wartime journal of his experiences as a member of 18 Squadron RAF during the years 1939-40, for had he not done so we would have been denied the pleasure of reading the lucid account that fills the pages of this book.

Its value as a historical document lies in the fact that it is a day-by-day commentary, in the words of the young man the author then was, relating his observations as a member of an operational RAF bomber squadron during a critical period of the Second World War. Arthur's perceptive, articulate and candid descriptions of people, places and events provide present-day readers with a vivid impression of what his life at the time was like.

Not long after Arthur had qualified as a pilot, his Squadron was sent to France as part of the air contingent of the British Expeditionary Force. Based at Amiens in a photo reconnaissance role, their job was to spy on German troop movements towards the supposedly impregnable Maginot Line.

Arthur's descriptions of his sojourn in France provide an excellent insight into the conditions prevalent prior to and during the invasion. A picture emerges of a period of great contrasts in which the young aviators enjoyed hedonistic socialising punctuated by episodes of extreme danger. One by one, aircraft and crews were lost.

As enemy forces closed in, 18 Squadron received orders to vacate their French bases and return to the UK, where, based in Norfolk, they swapped their reconnaissance role for that of an offensive bomber squadron during the subsequent Battle of Britain.