Growing up in an Army family gave Tim Toyne-Sewell a sense of curiosity that would stay with him throughout his military career. Commissioned into the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in 1961, he describes himself as a “schoolboy” in the Army, learning how to lead from the experienced platoon sergeants around him.

Tim first went to Aden in February 1962, where his battalion was unusually stationed for two years at Waterloo Lines. His experiences ranged from basic barrack life and rugby on the RAF pitches to six months as ADC at Government House, where endless dinner parties brought him into contact with an extraordinary range of public figures.

Only a few months after returning home, Tim found himself unexpectedly sent back to Aden and into the Radfan. There, life could hardly have been more different. He recalls convoy duties, patrols and ambushes, and being left with 30 men on a remote hilltop – an experience he credits with teaching him how to lead and earn the trust of others.

Tim went on to command his battalion, 19 Brigade and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, before running Goodenough College in London. Looking back, he reflects particularly on how Aden taught him to deal with people at every level, a skill that shaped the rest of his career.