Home | Veterans | Ali Brown
Screenshot

A veteran interview with

Ali Brown

Ali Brown joined the army in 1984 and rose to the rank of Colonel. She was in the first female intake at Sandhurst College and subsequently saw action in Iraq and the Balkans.

Play video
Watch the interview
Discover 23 key interview topics and talking points

About Ali Brown

From a young age Ali knew she wanted to join the army, and was part of the new 1984 revolution of women that went straight to training at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy.

Ali describes the developments in training, such as compulsory weapon exercises and more intensive physical fitness. She was posted to 10 Company Aldershot where she took on administrative roles in welfare and career management. Ali was then taken to the Royal Green Jackets, then the Light Division Depot at Winchester. She describes this as the point in which her ambition for a military career took over and she began to dedicate herself entirely to the army. From here she was posted to the NATO camp in Sennelager, the Grenadier Guards, and Hohne for gunnery training where she began to understand Soviet tactics in the Cold War.

When the Gulf war broke out in 1990 Ali knew that the WRAC was coming to an end. She was initially told that as a member of the WRAC she could not go to the Gulf, but she was grateful that the orders changed. In her interview she gives an incredible description of her experiences on ground operation. Ali continued to serve with the Adjutant General Corps and left as a full Colonel responsible for training across the whole of the army.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Evie Painter
Transcribed by:
Rachel Jennings

Transcripts:
Please note that transcripts and closed captions in the video player are automatically generated by Vimeo.

If you would like a version of the transcript that has been transcribed manually by Rachel Jennings, please complete this form or email info@legasee.org.uk.

Copyright:
All video content, web site design, graphics, images (including submitted content), text, the selection and arrangement thereof, underlying source code, software and all other material on this Web site are the copyright of Legasee Educational Trust, and its affiliates, or their content and technology providers. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Any use of materials on this Web site – including reproduction for purposes other than those noted above, modification, distribution, or republication – without the prior written permission of Legasee Educational Trust is strictly prohibited.

Keep on watching

More veteran stories...

Share this interview on:

https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/ali-brown/

Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Brown, Ali. A Veteran Interview with Ali Brown. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 17 Dec. 2014 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/ali-brown/. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
APA Style:
Brown, A. (2014, December 17). A Veteran Interview with Ali Brown [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved May 21, 2026, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/ali-brown/
Chicago Style:
Brown, Ali. 2014. A Veteran Interview with Ali Brown. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, December 17. Accessed May 21, 2026. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/ali-brown/
Harvard Style:
Brown, A. (2014). A Veteran Interview with Ali Brown. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 17 December. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/ali-brown/ (Accessed: 21 May 2026)
Vancouver Style:
Brown, A. A Veteran Interview with Ali Brown [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2014 Dec 17 [cited 2026 May 21]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/ali-brown/
An interview with

Tom Renouf

Black Watch infantryman who fought from 1st July to the end of the war, through France, Holland and Germany, winning a Military Medal on the Rhine crossing as a 19-yearold corporal.

Tom Renouf’s journey from infantry recruit to seasoned corporal with a Military Medal began with basic training and the preparations for deploying to France just after D-Day. On 30 June he joined his battalion as a casualty replacement, and went from boy to man during his baptism of fire at Rauray next day. Apart from a brief period recovering from a wound, he served continuously in the front line through France, Holland and the Rhine crossing to the final surrender in Germany. He focuses on some of the more personal aspects: how first battle experiences turned replacements into veterans, heavy casualties epitomised by the small number of soldiers who mustered next day, the different ways each man coped with danger. He recalls, during his first action in command, how he had to lead his section from the front to earn their respect. A recurrent theme is how the corporals, sergeants and sergeant major led from the front in battle and ensured the men’s welfare throughout the campaign.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
An interview with

Sylvia Adams

Sylvia worked in the Royal Military Police and became one of the first women to ride in the mounted troop.

Sylvia joined the WRAC in 1974 in hopes of working with animals and also learning to drive. After completing her initial training at Guildford, she began her specialised training with the police after performing well in her aptitude test. Unlike some other veterans, Sylvia remembers feeling she had a choice regarding her trade and as a result thoroughly enjoyed her experience with the military police. Belonging to squad 7405, she recalls the complex physical and mental training she had to complete in order to become a ranked military police officer. Although never weapon trained, she was taught how to engage in unarmed combat and endured NBC training procedures. In this interview Sylvia provides an insight into the feelings of WRAC women existing under the shadow of IRA threats. Discussing the Guildford bombing of 1974, she recalls the constant fear that hung over those serving in the army in their shared realisation that everyone was a target. She also describes her desires to push against the restrictions on female horse riding, and was eventually posted to Aldershot as the first female rider to join the military police mounted troop. Sylvia's interview provides an interesting and powerful account of one of the many ambitious women who served under the WRAC, and showcases the importance of documenting these women as army veterans.
Photo Gallery icon 15 Photos
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Frame grab of an injured veteran being interviewed
An interview with

Anthony Cooper

The committed service of an infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the catastrophic event that changed his life forever.

A keen runner and fitness fanatic, Anthony Cooper signed up at 16 and completed his training at AFC Harrogate and Catterick before being posted to Germany with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment – an experience he recalls with great glee. Anthony goes on to talk about the six-month operational tour of Iraq that followed, and shares the harsh realities of his first real soldiering experience compared to the practice of training. After a brief decompression in Cyprus, Anthony returned to Catterick where training for combat in Afghanistan began. He recalls the relentlessness of the conflict on arriving in Nad Ali, and talks about living with the fear of a constant threat to life which became all too real in 2010 when a 45kg IED exploded beneath his feet on a routine patrol in Helmand Province. Anthony talks candidly about his injuries, the long road to recovery and the hard work needed to adapt to life as an amputee with severe brain trauma and visual impairment. The extraordinary courage and resilience of his service now manifest themselves in his determination to overcome any new obstacle in his path, and to achieve his dream of running again one day on blades.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker