Forever
The Sun will set again tonight,
And rise again tomorrow.
Unlike the fallen and the dead.
They’ll sleep on forever.
They gave us time to live in peace.
They gave us time to grow.
To grow in freedom, peace and love.
While they sleep on forever.
So don't forget their sacrifice.
They died so we could live,
They gave their lives in battles fought.
So we could live in peace.
As they sleep on forever.
Brian began his military journey in 1961, moving from the Duke of York’s Royal Military School straight into the Army Apprentice School to train as a specialist radio technician. His first official assignment took him to Germany, working at the 4th Division’s communication headquarters in Herford. After earning a promotion to a more senior technician level (T2), he was sent to an electronics course at an RAF base in Somerset (RAF Locking). From there, he was deployed to an important post in Cyprus.
Next, Brian moved into air support communications. He went back to the UK for advanced training and was stationed at an RAF helicopter base (RAF Odiham). Here, he served as the dedicated on-site technician for the elite Mobile Air Operations Team. While in this role, he was sent on two tours of Northern Ireland during the height of the conflict. After becoming a technician (T1), Brian was assigned to the military’s Intelligence and Security Group in Northern Ireland. His job was to provide vital technical and equipment support to the Northern Ireland Training and Advisory Team, the group responsible for preparing all incoming British troops for complex urban operations.
He was then posted to SHAPE in Belgium, the headquarters for NATO in Europe. Following his time there, he returned to the frontline network, joining a communications regiment stationed at a British military airfield in Germany. He then went back to Northern Ireland, providing communications support directly to an Infantry Brigade stationed in Belfast.
As his career progressed, Brian returned to Germany to work with the Intelligence and Security Group at a major British military base command before finishing his full-time service back in Belfast, where he worked as a military instructor training part-time reserve soldiers.
Brian officially left full-time service in 1985 but continued to serve his country as a military reservist. Today, he enjoys a well-deserved,comfortable retirement as a Chelsea Pensioner.
