Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2013 | Page 13
INTERVIEW
Ken
Hicks
By Peter White
In the first of a special
two-part interview, Peter
White talks to Bembridge’s
Ken Hicks about some of his
interesting escapades and
narrow escapes while serving
in the Army.
Listening to Ken Hicks talking about
his Service life is a bit like thumbing
your way through a thriller novel.
Every sentence has a twist, although
Ken is still somewhat restricted
on what he can actually talk about
publicly, as he still falls under the
jurisdiction of the Official Secrets’ Act.
What Ken can reveal is that in a
career that took him all around the
world, he has experienced more than
a few moments when he genuinely
thought he was about to breathe his
last. He mused: “Yes there were
occasions – a razor was held to my
throat and a gun pointed at my head.
But I have always been very fortunate.”
When Ken was a pupil at Nettlestone
Primary School and later at Sandown
Grammar School, he could not
possibly have envisaged what was to
unwind in front of him. He said: “I
left school at 16, and didn’t know what
I wanted to do, but at 17 I wanted to
see more of the world. At the time the
Korean War was on, so I decided to
go to the Army Recruiting Office in
Newport and join up.”
He joined the East Surrey Regiment
in January 1952, and on February 7 –
the day after King George VI died – he
went to Kingston Barracks. “Suddenly
I was thrown into a totally di