Born in Alsager, Cheshire, Geoffrey joined the Army to avoid working down the coal mines. He recalls moments of hope while fighting on the Europe frontline, such as the sight of a crucifix on the door of a French school in Cristot, miraculously unharmed despite heavy shelling. He also describes the difficult position of having to shoot his first soldier, when a group of three German troops feigned surrender and threw a hand grenade. Like with the deaths of his own regiment and friends, Geoff kept himself positive with one simple mantra: “I'm glad it’s not me”. After being shot in the leg in Belgium, Geoff was captured and transported in a cattle truck to Stalag IV-B, one of Germany’s largest POW camps. He describes the harsh conditions and overcrowding, as well as witnessing the camp’s justice system at work, after guards caught and shot a fellow prisoner accused of stealing rations.  In a cruel twist of fate, he also found himself forced to work somewhere he wanted to avoid at all cost - a coal mine. After surviving Stalag IV-B and the notorious ‘Death March’, Geoff returned safely home to Barnsley, weighing only 6 stone and 2 pounds.  Geoff’s optimism shines throughout this interview, despite his harrowing ordeal. He fondly remembers much of the camaraderie during his time in service, and still to this day expresses no regrets of his experience in Europe. He maintains respect for the Germans, for always keeping to their word.

Mike Jackson joined the army aged 17 in 1961 and went to Sandhurst next year. Initially in the Intelligence Corps he then joined the Parachute Regiment. In the early 1970s he was posted to Northern Ireland. Here he witnessed or was close to many harrowing events such as the Ballymurphy killings, Bloody Sunday and the Warrenpoint ambush. He saw bodies dismembered by bombs and acknowledged that this could be traumatic. Mike thinks that soldiers adapt to such events, helped by the adrenalin the body produces. He did not want to go into detail regarding Bloody Sunday as he had already disclosed this during the Saville Report years earlier. He regrets that he missed the Falklands War as he was working in the MOD at the time and after service in Norway he was sent to former Yugoslavia. Here he commanded the British 3^rd division and some units from other nations. Later, in 1999, he commanded KFOR, a multi-national peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During this time he was ordered by General Clark, the US overall commander, to prevent a Russian unit from seizing Pristina airfield. Jackson refused the order, saying that he was not going to ‘…start the Third World War…’, an action which gained notoriety in the media. Later, in 2003, he was promoted to head of the Army. In 2006 he retired after forty-five years’ service. He describes his career as both enjoyable and rewarding as it helped to make a difference to peoples lives.

Born into a military family, John begins by talking about his life as a boy during the Second World War. John left school at fourteen, moving from one job to the other until he joined the Army Apprentice School. Here, he continued his education while training as a mechanic. Afterwards, he underwent his basic training as a mechanic in Arborfield, Berkshire, before joining the Royal Electrical and Medical Engineers (REME) as a craftsman. After a series of injections, John, now nineteen, was kitted out, ready to be sent to Korea, a place he had never heard of before. First, the 121 REME’s were sent to the Reinforcement Base Depot in Japan to train for the Korean terrain. However, John sustained a knee injury playing football with his comrades, causing him to spend three more weeks in Japan recovering. When reunited with his mates in Pusan, South Korea, John recalls his shock at seeing the ‘horrendous’ conditions that people lived in. John’s first assignment was at an American airbase on Koji Island, repairing vehicles, later travelling to Seoul and the Yong Dong Po. During this time, his boss was Dutchie Holland, a man John speaks very fondly about, describing him as a father to the men. John talks about the charge sheets he used to receive, most often for carrying too many vehicles in at the same time, as well as recalling the harsh extremes of conditions in the workshop, both bitterly cold and boiling hot. In his time in Korea, John serviced lots of vehicles, including mobile bakeries, laundry vehicles, and k2 ambulances, as well as a Centurion tank that had been blown up, which was not a pleasant experience to work on. John talks of what Christmas day was like as a soldier, the time off, the gift of rum, and the food eaten. After returning to England on HMT Dunera, John was told that he had earned himself some stripes, a moment he was incredibly proud of. Thank you for such a fascinating interview John.