Presents the memories and experiences of some of the two million 18-year-olds who were conscripted between 1945 and 1963. The author examines both good times and bad of those who were forced to oversee the dismantling of an empire and to garrison West Germany at the start of the Cold War. They served at home or abroad in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, while many saw action in Korea and Malaya.