This book covers a 14-year period when the author progressed from being a boy sailor in the UK to become a chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy. It offers a very interesting blend of life experiences of a growing young man through some frightening experiences and some happy times. Life as a boy sailor was exciting for him, but once the dark period of the WW2 emerged, things changed radically, and his knowledge and courage were tested in some dramatic experiences which are well described in his book. When he moved into the submarine service in late 1942, a very new experience awaited him and by then he was a married man entering fatherhood in the coming year and already wondering what to do when the war finally ended. The final chapter describes sadness and regrets as the author's life radically changed with the pressures of finding a new profession and becoming a family member with three children and there was always a lingering regret at having taken the wrong pathway despite the emerging successes of his children.