Rachel Webster served all over the world with the RMP (Royal Military Police), including deployments in Northern Ireland during The Conflicts and in Afghanistan during the 2001 allied invasion. After completing an apprenticeship in welding she wanted to join the Royal Engineers, but she was laughed out of the recruiting office for being a “girl”. After some consideration, she decided to join the RMP instead. She completed her basic training with the WRAC (Women's Royal Army Corps), and did further training with the RMP before being deployed to Germany. In her interview she discusses the challenges of being a female within the military and the challenges of trying to keep up with the frontline military units she was supporting. She talks about her experience of integrating herself into a very male dominated space, and how she became someone who the men could confide in during difficult times. Rachel talks about being deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo with the Green Howards, remembering it as her toughest deployment. The atrocities she witnessed over there are something that she has never forgotten, needing counselling when she returned home to help her emotionally come to terms about what she witnessed over there. One of her proudest moments was deploying to Iraq in 2003, where she helped build a local girls' school, impressing the Iraqi men with her welding skills and forming strong relationships with the locals. After being put up for commission, she supported 1st Battalion, The Rifles in Afghanistan as a regimental admin officer, the highlight of her career. After 24 years, she left the military for a new challenge.

Having lived through WWII as a child, Michael was conscripted at age 18. He trained as an anti-tank gunner in Norfolk and then sailed for Korea on the Emperor Orwell in late August 1950. He and his compatriots were among the first British regiments to go to Korea. He tells of the journey to Korea, stopping in Egypt, Ceylon, Singapore and Hong Kong. Life on board ship involved training on what to expect, as well as practice on the 17 pounder anti-tank gun. Michael describes a 24-hour train journey to Britannia camp after arriving in Pusan. From there he tells of day-to-day life, fighting trench warfare, primarily on 355 hill (Kowang Sang). Conditions were very challenging; they lived in a constant state of alertness, remaining in their clothes and boots as they had to be prepared to fight at a moment’s notice. Suffering frequent mortar bombardment and attacks by the PVA, Michael describes in detail the measures they had to take to counteract these attacks and the importance of keeping going despite the fear. He returned home after two years and tells of his frustration that the Korean war appears to have been forgotten.

In 1965, Len Tyler entered the Army as a Junior Bandsman. By the time he left in 1994, he was the Director of Music of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Len’s love of music may never have started without Leicestershire’s ‘radical’ music programme, which provided free instruments, music lessons, and weekly coach journeys to children who needed them. Before leaving school at 16, with little knowledge of what he wanted to do, he stumbled across an army information wagon. Little did Len know that the recruiter behind the counter was in-fact a sergeant from the 4th Royal Anglian Band. As a Junior Bandsman, Len's first posting to Malta was also his first time abroad, where he married a Maltese girl. When their son was later born with medical complications, Len became the first student on Kneller Hall's pupil's course to receive his own quarters - a wonderful three-bedroom house in Hounslow. Len had an exciting time as part of the 'Golden 8', made up of the top eight players on the course. Together, they performed at high profile events like the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. Later in 1992, as Director of Music of the REME, Len would also perform for the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, at the Royal Albert Hall, as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. When he was deployed to the First Gulf War, Len worked on helicopter landing sites. Reflecting on his experience of entering a war zone, in this interview Len recalls how musical people often struggle to become military people, however he luckily adapted well.