AT this time we remember the fallen in two world wars. But what of the survivors? Most reports of the action are officer's memoirs written in retrospect. What of the rank and file, the common soldiers?

My dad was one, a Desert Rat, crossing and re-crossing North Africa during WWII. Day by day, with dry humour, he wrote a diary, telling of the petty restrictions, the hardships, sand storms, snakes, flies, the shelling, the lack of water, the meagre rations including the ubiquitous bully beef — and the hours spent playing cards! Mail was very intermittent and news was scarce.

If you want to know what it was really like for the men in the Middle East, read 'Diary of a Common Soldier' by F R McMillan, available from Amazon on Kindle, priced £3.15. As my dad died of a heart attack when he was only 45 all proceeds are donated to the British Heart Foundation.

Jan Robinson

Gunnislake