Quartered Safe Out Here is unusual in the world of military memoirs in that it is written by one of the 'other ranks', the ordinary working man who, in the age of conscription found himself in the front rank of his country's fighting forces. Fraser was, before being selected for a commission, enlisted in the ranks of a Cumbrian regiment sent to fight the Japanese in the far east. His war is not one of grand arching strategies and larks in the officers mess but of trying to stay dry and making it to the next brew up.

Life for Fraser revolves around his immediate comrades in Nine Section. These at are the men that he loves and would risk his life for, not Churchill or Montgomery. Fraser's war is, like most, one of long periods of tedium separated by brief flashes of action. The slow periods are enlivened by Fraser's recollections of the absurd moments of war - being terrorised by a centipede and falling down a well spring to mind but it is his description of the action where he truely shines. Whether the terror of clearing bunkers at bayonet point or shooting at Japanese soldiers in cold blood Fraser isn't afraid of revealing his true feelings.

This book is very immersive - you will feel you are fighting in the war as a squaddie in Nine Section (Cumbrian accent and all) but it is the reflections of Fraser that hit you hardest. His continuing hatred of the Japanese and his fierce patriotism (he recalls singing the full national anthem, 'un PC second verse and all' at a remembrance event) are just two indicators of what a defining period his time with Nine Section was for him (as it must have been for tens of millions of other temporary soldiers in both of the world wars), despite his late war experiences as an officer (foretold by his comrades - with my permish you'll get a comish!).