I believe he used a fair degree of his own in recognizing the significance of the unique topography of the battlefield to the conduct of operations. But he also includes anecdotes about some of those further down the chain of command which humanize the book - I am thinking particularly about the late, somewhat 'irregular', Bill Foxton's flying skills and, though I'm not terribly certain, that he may have made some mention of the tragic injuries sustained by the late Tony Fleming (more regular, but not completely in a sense). A first class read.
Tony, was a big lad, a Parachute Regiment badged WO2 A PTI. I was present when he punched an RAF gent in the 101 Club who was being obstreperous . Tony was on his F/Fall course at RAF Abingdon in 1971 (?) when the PTSU RSM raised an issue and as a consequence Tony was sent back back to Depot Para, as it was to be,for a year, in the sin bin
We had a good rapport as we were both PTI's more so as I was a superb sky diver/ instructor (

) He came back to be shot and seriously disabled on a contact retrieved to One Tree Hill (?) in Dofhar.
Carried/ dragged through the forward movement of the patrol he was subsequently placed on the outer body of an armoured vehicle and retrieved to the FST at UAG in the vicinity of RAF Salalah. There followed a considerable time at Stoke Mandeville before, now wheelchair bound he was subsequently sponsored at Cairo University, compliments of Mrs. Sadat to gain a degree in classical Arabic.
At Stoke Mandeville, there were two others from the Op Storm wounded, also wheelchair bound, one of them being the gent who features prominently on here sat on a mound with the L42, photographed by his squadron OC Bruce NIven. Regrettably he passed on in 2019.
Tony had an incredible intellect when it came to it. Initially happy to be just a jock-strap, then took the tumble from WO2 to trooper as was in those times taking a huge pay cut. Mercifully, pay adjustments were to come into play. It was a real bitch, the volume of talented young Sgts / C. Sgts from core infantry units having to take a serious drop in pay when joining their allocated squadron.
That's an aspect of what I know of this soul.