
This image was taken in April... April 1980, exactly 40 years ago. This is me and my comrades of 'C' Company, 1st Battalion The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment pictured immediately before jumping on the transport to take place in the regiment's Freedom of the City of Exeter Parade during our KAPE (Keeping the Army in the Public Eye) tour of that year. We had just returned to the UK after a five year posting in BAOR, moving from the city of Osnabruck to the (wonderful) garrison town of Colchester in Essex. A 'KAPE' tour was, at that time, one of the most effective means of gaining new recruits into the regiment; we spent most of the four weeks of the tour visiting schools and colleges across the two counties explaining to the pupils what they might expect from a career in the armed services.
I was only nineteen years old when this picture was taken but already had nearly three years military service under my belt at this time which included over 6 months on operations in Northern Ireland...
See if you can find me; as a clue, I am wearing something on my jacket that no-one else in this image has... Answers on a postcard (or below in here which is more realistic!)