This book tells the story of Stephen Piper, born at the beginning of the twentieth century in Swansea, South Wales. It details his life in his own words growing up in a poor family, his life in the Merchant Navy during and after the First World War, life during the Depression in Swansea. It relates what it was like in the Home Guard during the Swansea Blitz and of his time in the Pioneer Corps where he became an officer. Lastly, it tells of his life after the Second World War in Germany and coming back to Wales when he was nearly sixty.