This 40-page A5 format softback book is written by a Bevin Boy working in Welsh coal mines during World War 2. But, as the title suggests, this is not just a book of text about the Bevin Boys; it contains 20 drawings from Keith during his service. Keith chose to be a miner (so he was an “optant”) and was trained at Oakdale Colliery in the Sirhowy Valley in Monmouthshire (now Gwent). He then worked alongside other conscripted Bevin Boys and the miners not in the armed services. Keith worked in the mines for about a year, going in and being classified as health grade A1 and coming out at grade B2.
The last part of the book is a history of the Penalta coal mine near Caerphilly, where Keith worked later, along with some photographs of that mine.