Eric Coombes was born in Hertfordshire, in a little village named Shenley, just outside of London. As a boy, he remembers seeing London on fire after it was bombed during World War II. When he turned 18 years old he was called up for national service and was sent to Blenheim Camp, St Edmunds, for six weeks of basic training. After that, he continued his training for 10 weeks in the Royal Norfolk regiment. After training, he was deployed to Korea; Eric was really excited for his deployment, as it gave him the chance to travel the world for the first time. He remembers the crossing going well, he kept himself occupied with bingo, exercising, and at times, going ashore for a couple of hours when the ship pulled into port. Once landing in Hong Kong, they were put through a stiff training routine, learning how to use mortars and other weaponry. His regiment was then sent on its way to Pusan, Korea. On the way into Korea, Eric remembers the sound of heavy artillery fire not far away from where he was. When he arrived in Pusan, he had a couple of days to get comfortable before he started working. Eric’s role was mortar support, he recalls the very detailed way in which mortars work and how he used his training to operate them. His first experience with loss came when two of the people he signed up with were killed whilst on patrol, he remembers this being a very sad time. On another occasion, Eric remembers hearing about a company of soldiers being captured whilst on patrol. At the time he hoped they were captured by the Chinese, as stories spread about how horrible the Korean prison camps were. For Eric, the scariest time was being mortared whilst in a valley, his platoon had to quickly fall back whilst mortars were being dropped behind them. Eric wishes there could be no wars and talks about the tragic loss of life for both sides. He left Korea in September 1952.

As a child Margaret travelled around the world with her father who was in the Royal Navy, therefore when she settled in England, joined the WRAC as a means of continuing her travels. Margaret joined in 1975, and as the first intake of army recruits after the Guildford bomb, she described the unnerving atmosphere and extreme safety precautions that were at place during her first six weeks of training. Having previously trained as a hairdresser, Margaret continued this trade and was quickly posted to Northern Ireland where she ran her own hairdressers in Aldergrove. She describes the horror of the bombings, shootings and overall violence in Ireland and her experience with PTSD following this posting. When asked to reflect on the WRAC, Margaret states that although she enjoyed the confidence being in the military gave her, she felt resentment towards the manner in which her career was so easily terminated as a result of pregnancy.

By the age of 14, Esther Hayes was approaching Grade 8 standard on the flute and piano. Three years in the band of the TA led her to pursue a full-time military musician career, and after completing basic training at ATR Winchester she spent her first year at Kneller Hall. Esther shares memories from her subsequent assignment to the Band of the Royal Corps of Signals, followed by a return to Kneller Hall for three more gruelling years of hard work to become a bandmaster. She went on to make history as the first female bandmaster of the Paras, and she talks about her experience of what was then a heavily male-dominated environment. After several years with the Paras, Esther returned to Kneller Hall, spending a couple of years in post as a Training Design Warrant Officer before joining the Household Cavalry and further developing her skills by learning to ride a horse whilst playing the flute. She goes on to talk about an operational role in Afghanistan, a stint in the Band of the Queen’s Division, and another return to Kneller Hall, this time to facilitate the training of the student bandmasters joining the ranks: a full-circle moment, but by no means the end of her incredible career.