In June 1940, following the Nazi invasion of France, Ivor Paech, an ordinary primary school teacher from South Australia, enlisted in the Second AIF - the all-volunteer fighting component of the Australian Army in World War II. The unit he was assigned to would become Australia's most highly decorated infantry battalion of the conflict - the 2/48th Infantry Battalion. Ivor served in the front lines in North Africa during the Siege of Tobruk, both battles of Alamein, and bore witness to some of the most violent fighting undertaken by Australian soldiers during the war. This is Ivor's story, compiled by his grandson who is a former Army officer, based on the diary he kept during the conflict, background research and interviews with surviving members of the unit.