SIMPLE patriotism and a realisation that he was helping finish off something started by the 1914-18 war was the reason behind Denis Falvey's decision to join the Royal Artillery before World War Two after what he described as a 20-year half time break.

Now, Mr Falvey, of Hampton Manor, Evesham, has written a book about his experiences and A Well-Known Excellence, British Artillery And An Artilleryman In World War Two, has been published by Brassey's at £20.

It is Mr Falvey's first book and he said: "At the age of 87, it is likely to be my only one."

He said that of all the thousands of books written about the 1939-45 war, very few mentioned the Artillery and its importance and he thought it about time someone blew its trumpet.

Mr Falvey was well qualified to do it, based on the fact that he was with the 64th Medium Regiment from the outset in April 1939 until he was demobilised in the autumn of 1945, and so his book covers the complete life cycle of the Regiment, the finest and most experienced medium calibre unit in the British Army.

"There was hardly a campaign in which we didn't play a crucial part," he said. "We were in Egypt, Greece, Crete, North Africa, Sicily, the D-Day beaches and across France and Belgium into Germany. In fact, at the end of the Tripoli campaign our achievements were recognised by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who paid us the very rare honour of a visit and inspection which was very much appreciated. It shows that we did stand out."

Mr Falvey set out on his book to try to get across the inside story in a lively narrative of what it was like to be involved in so many different campaigns and to give some publicity to the Artillery whose support, he said, was a crucial element in the success of all the major campaigns.

The importance of the Artillery was recognised by Germany's Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, from whom the eye-catching book title came. "He made this remark in the agony of defeat and even at that moment he couldn't fail to recognise the part the Artillery had played," Mr Falvey said. "In fact it was a major influence."

In the early part of 1939 Mr Falvey was very politically active and well on the left, following the Spanish Civil War in which both Germany and Italy had taken part in order to try out their weapons for the war that was to come, while the British and French pursued a non-intervention policy.

"Despite our loathing of the Chamberlain Government, we were well aware our country was in mortal peril, very soon confirmed by events, and that was when our patriotism took over," Mr Falvey said of his decision to volunteer.

An economist by profession, Mr Falvey, who has been in Evesham for 33 years, also had wide experience in the steel industry, mechanical engineering and as a civil servant. He has been heavily involved with the Vale of Evesham Civic Society, the Music Society and the Gramophone Society and over the years has contributed articles to the Journal on such subjects of the privatisation of the railways, attacking the break-up into so many different parts, on Simon de Montfort and his own theories on the Battle of Evesham which were confirmed by the discovery of a contemporaneous account written by a monk.

Publisher Roderick Dymott said: "We have a duty to teach today's generation what World War Two was all about. There are fewer and fewer people able to give a first-hand account and with Mr Falvey we had a great chance of finding just such a person. We had a man who was there instead of recruiting an historian who would have had to research the project."

l A Well-Known Excellence is published by Brassey's at £20.