Clarence Obi details the racism he experienced serving with the Royal Pioneer Corps in the 1970s after being spurred to join the Army by his curiosity and inspiration from his father. Training was by far his favourite part of his army career; it was tough but varied and always left him feeling physically and mentally fit, something he couldn’t say about the rest of his service.   His first experience with the army's prejudice came when his staff sergeant beat him until he bled in front of 30 to 40 people and suffered no consequences for his crime. The next time he was beaten was during a sports day, when a lieutenant officer used a pacer stick to nearly blind him while the other officers turned a blind eye. When kicked by his corporal for tying his laces, he made the mistake of reporting it to his colonel, staff sergeant, and sergeant major, who then proceeded to kick Clarence themselves.  Clarence had wanted to make a career out of the army but left after finding all the rules and regulations overly restrictive for him and easily abused by others. No matter how many exams he passed, he was stuck doing repetitive physical labour with no chance of promotion, being sent abroad or advancing himself in any way. Even though he possessed an exemplary record and was wearing the same uniform as everyone else, he was treated like an animal rather than an equal and he had had enough.

Having served in the Irish Army in 1943 to 44, ‘Paddy’ was discharged along with many of his compatriots, so he enlisted in the British Army. Even though he was Irish, on the advice of his father, he joined the Manchester regiment in Liverpool. From there, Paddy volunteered to join the Commandos and transferred to Achnacarry in Scotland in 1944. Although the training was gruelling, he succeeded and was proud to achieve his beret. Transferring to Wrexham in 1945, he was selected for special training and then posted to the Far East, training for Operation Nipper. Surrender following the second atom bomb resulted in redirection to the Malacca Straits and from there to the Middle East. Paddy describes serving in Egypt and then Israel and then in 1948, being posted to London, where he was on guard during the night of King Charles’s birth. Subsequently posted again to the Far East, it was in 1949 that he was sent to Korea. He tells of many battles and experiences including Operation Rowley, the taking and loss of Pyongyang and Kunu-ri. Paddy is critical of the behaviour of the American Military in Korea. Ultimately, Paddy expresses the view that war is futile.