Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2009 | Page 32

life

INTERVIEW

greyer existence of the Ministry of Defence in

business. For Martin, though, it was the best

London. The whole experience was ‘a bit of an

time. “You know enough to be able to guide

eye-opener’ for him, from the surreal presence

people and yet you’re not involved in the

of the shared office bowler hat, to be donned

higher military politics of the thing.”

by anyone needing to be seen on the City
streets, to the fact that he’d had no idea what

military career when people often decide to

went on in the Ministry. “Actually when I left I

quit: he was in the enviable position of being

still had no idea what went on there,” he grins.

pensionable at 38. His claim that “inertia kept

“They didn’t expect very much of captains in

me in the army” is hard to believe, that not

the Ministry of Defence then, and I didn’t let

being a quality one associates with our Lord

them down: I didn’t do very much!”

Lieutenant. But, stay he did.

Staff College, however, made rather more

He didn’t regret it. He was posted to Bielefeld,

demands on him – and, one suspects, was all

the second-most important HQ in Germany,

the more welcome because of that. Martin

as a Staff Planner. “It was very much in the

had passed an exam which got him there – a

Cold War context and was fascinating. Had

goal much sought-after but not achieved by

we been at war I would have been responsible

many. It was also a settled time for his family.

for organising the logistic support from a

His daughter Anna was born, then to his and

deployed HQ.” The other plus was that many

Fiona’s delight they were sent off to Germany

of his contemporaries from Staff College were

where Martin, now a Major, commanded a

serving there, so they had a lot of friends in

squadron.

Germany. “I like Germany, and I like the people.

The world stage was not a comfortable

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He had reached one of those stages in his

I knew the country better in those days than

one. The Cold War was at its height, and his

I did England,” he says, adding that the Isle

squadron was involved with the nuclear delivery

of Wight was always home and of course the