Tony served his National Service in the mid 50s and was one of the very last British men to do so.
For him the experience was very much a rite of passage – he went in to the army a boy and then demobbed 2 years [?] later, a man.
And nor did he have any regrets for this immense experience. He flew to India [being massively sick in the comfortless army plane], he danced to ‘Rock Around the Clock’ in the aisles of the cinema in Singapore, and [perhaps he was most proud of this] he and his unit went to the Borneo where they helped the gurkhas hunt pirates – when they found one, the gurkhas of course wouldn’t bother carrying the body back to base; they’d cut off the pirates head with a machete and carry that back in a bag instead. Tony’s stories of the jungle, not least the foul leeches and lizards that dogged their daily life, were fantastic, detailed and reflected his wonder and pride for his NS experience.
Tony FOREVER ! 