Born on the 23rd of November 1938 in Camberwell London the author describes, how during the hight of the London blitz, his family home was irreparably damaged and no longer habitable, so the family moved to a house in Peckham London. This house was also damaged by a bomb that landed nearby but at least it could be lived in. He remembers vividly looking out of the window of his house in Peckham with his brother Albert as they both watched the 'Doodle Bug Bombs' flying overhead and hoping they would not land on their house.
At the end of the war there was widespread celebrations in Britain, including Rye Hill Park where the family lived. As a child he spent most of his time out of doors playing in the bombed houses that were war damaged and nobody living in them.
The author had pneumonia twice as a baby. During the first 10 years of his life he suffered from bronchitis and other health problems that meant he was in hospital or at home a lot and unable to attend infant or primary school. Despite the ill health in his younger years Michael enjoyed his early school years and recalls them as mainly happy times, apart from one or two teachers who it seemed still believed they lived in Victorian Britain.
Despite the many problems the people in Britan had to endure in post-war Britain Michael remembers with great fondness his young life at Peckham with his brothers and sisters. Also from time to time with his cousins and various other members of the extended Dillon family.
Michael writes about his time as a member of The Hollington Boys Club in Camberwell and how important this was to him in his early formative years. His success in the game of cricket as a fast bowler was a highlight of his time at the Hollington Club and also recalls with great happiness his holidays at Birling Gap Nr Eastbourne where he went camping for a number of years until he started Senior School.
Whilst at senior school Michael started cycle-touring with his friend Bob. This turned into a lifelong friendship. Overtime they cycled frequently in the surrey countryside and to the main seaside resorts in Kent and Sussex. Two of the most notable trips were to the Isle of Wight cycling, then taking the ferry over to the Solent. The most memorable of all was the cycle camping trip from London to Looe in Cornwall in two weeks. The journey London/Looe and back home again was a total distance of 540 miles/869 kilometres.
At the Age of 18 Michael spent the following 18 months doing his conscripted National Service in the Army. The most notable negative event was when on patrol at the border of Northern Ireland and The Irish Republic, coming as close as one could to being shot in the head. And the most positive occasion was taking part in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and spending 3 months living in Edinburgh Castle.