Allen Mawer's diary is a candid and sometimes disconcerting record of conquests in the air and on the ground. It recounts the highs and lows of his war. From 1941 when, aged 21, he hunted the Hun over the English Channel and experienced the perils of aerial combat and the hazards of wartime romance. To 1943 when, living in a 'swamp that pretends to be an airstrip' south of Darwin, the Japanese flew over so infrequently he was in danger of going troppo. Allen was killed over Darwin at the end of the war. His diary offers a poignant insight into the human cost of armed conflict.