This book tells the story of what it was like to be a newly-wed in the mid 1960s and to start married life as the wife of a soldier serving in the British Army of the Rhine:

In 1966, when 23-year-old Victoria Gilkes married Captain David Coombes, she had little idea of the life that lay ahead as the wife of a serving soldier with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in West Germany.

The years that followed brought much adventure and happiness, along with a number of trials, not least losing her identity as an individual and becoming known solely as a bolt-on accessory to her husband; a soldier's wife was invariably referred to by the Army as ‘Wife of’ followed by her husband’s name and rank, hence the book’s title.

As she puts it:’Accepting a marriage proposal from a military man involved embarking on the adventure of an uncertain lifestyle... a step into the unknown’.

Half a century on, with contributions from the many fellow wives who remain her friends, Victoria has told her entertaining story.