Peter Beale served as a troop leader in the 9th Royal Tank Regiment in Normandy and the north-west Europe campaign in 1944-45, during which he was wounded twice. After demobilisation he obtained a degree in electrical engineering at University College, London. He emigrated to Australia in 1956, where he worked as a management consultant. Peter Beale has written three books on tanks in World War II: Tank Tracks, Death by Design, and The Great Mistake. His wife Shirley has assisted with the research for all of these titles as well as this latest release. Peter and his wife, Shirley, live in Valentine, NSW.