Jim Ashworth-Beaumont

I attended a really great school, but yeah, I was not a great student, I'm afraid.

Yeah, Hanover Street in the centre of Edinburgh.

It was a cold day.

You need to find somewhere to sit down and stay warm.

And the army recruitment office was there.

So I just walked into the recruitment office and talked to the recruitment sergeant and see what was available.

But I think I had very low expectations of myself academically.

I didn't consider myself to be clever in any way.

Absolutely.

So when you first go into the recruitment office, they get you to do a whole bunch of tests to see how suited you are to different jobs.

And I got 100% in all of them, I think.

So pretty much they said you're going to join an advanced trade.

So I was recruited at the Royal Signals and went through my trade training into a job.

So through the course of my Army and Royal Marine career, I gained experience in a wide range of technical subjects, was able to go out in the field into reconnaissance and surveillance.

But I was really worried about getting institutionalised.

You know, it's very difficult to get out of that environment and rejoin normal life.

And I really became concerned that it would limit me in later life.

No, the bottom line is money, really.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money to finish the course.

So that plan fell flat, to be honest with you.