Between 1945 and 1963, more than 2.5 million 18-year-olds were called up for National Service. Alf Townsend was one of them, and here he tells his story - the highs and lows of life as a lowly Aircraftman Second Class in the early 1950s.
Before national service intervened, Alf was 'heading down the criminal road at top speed', having grown up in a north London slum, where money was short and local villains were revered.
Bad Lads
is a warts-and-all account of Alf's time in the RAF, when he was transplanted into a completely new world of misfits and officer types, rogues and entertainers, all amusingly described in his own inimitable style.