The year is 1938 and the clouds of war hang over much of the world and influence the daily routines of most families. However, Raymond John Dagnall is far too vivid in his imagination and exuberant in his mischief to let a small thing like the threat of global conflict stand in the way of him having fun. He does have to endure having to go outside to the loo, but he makes up for it with his imaginative outlook on life. He is an ordinary boy of 5 years of age who lives with his mother and father in a two up two down terrace in Wavertree, Liverpool along with his maternal grandmother who lives...

The Childhood Years part 2 picks up the story of Ray Dagnall's life several months after the destruction of his home by the Nazi bombs. Ray and his family are finally moving into a new house complete with an indoor loo. Life is transformed as he makes new friends, starts a new school and with a certain degree of inevitability becomes the class clown. He soon gathers around him like minded individuals until he eventually has a gang who get up to all sorts of mischief as the war continues to rage around them. As the tide of the conflict turns, Aunt Alice arrives home with her tales of Al...