He based the setting for most of the story on Shopswyke House, a Georgian mansion in Tangmere, West Sussex to which Bates himself was assigned.

[1] In the summer of 1940, 19-year-old Elizabeth Cartwright lives a secluded and privileged life in a village in Kent.

[2] Her world is turned upside down with the arrival of a group of RAF officers who requisition her family home as a base.

She immediately falls for Bill Ogilvie with an old sports-car, then marries 'Splodge' but the life of an RAF pilot is a dangerous one as it comes as no real surprise when tragedy strikes.

Reviews were mixed: It was adapted into a 4-part television mini-series in 1979 for the BBC starring Alison Elliott as Elizabeth, John Moulder-Brown as Bill Ogilvie, and Robin Davies as Splodge[4]