Born in 1914, Peter Crichton was brought up by his maternal grandfather in Essex. His education at Bradfield was cut short due to a shortage of money. After a period in German and Denmark learning to farm he became a sub-editor for The Evening Standard. A countryman at heart, urban life did not suit him.
On the outbreak of war, he joined the Northamptonshire Yeomanry but frustrated by home service he transferred to the 4th Hussars. His service in North Africa, Northern Greece, the Western Desert and with the Partisans in the Balkans is the subject of this memoir.
Post war he married the daughter of the Swedish Minister to Egypt and worked in Cairo until the 1952 Revolution. They returned with their son, Robert to England, settling in the Cotswolds. He enjoyed rural pursuits and worked for the Automobile Association. He died in 1977.