Richard Fidler

It still astounds me.

I think there was probably a hint of wanting to live his Wild West dreams in joining this adventure as well.

Serving as a scout with this unit, he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

How did he do that?

We wish we knew for sure.

We believe it was for climbing a telegraph pole and cutting the wires that was allowing the bore units to communicate with each other.

Climbing a telegraph pole, it's like climbing a mast, isn't it?

It would have been simple for Dexter.

And he's cutting these wires under fire from snipers who are trying to stop him doing that job.

So we know he did that, but we're not exactly sure if that was the action that won him this medal.

Look, he shows his broad-mindedness and his capacity to understand people who aren't like him.

The language he uses is characteristic of the racism of the time.

But he made allowances.

He learnt to live and let live.

He speaks of the extraordinary food experiences in his different stays across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

He would just eat what was put in front of him and he learnt to like it.

Yeah, he was a flexible man while trying to maintain his own principles.

So in port there were the usual ants and cockroaches and

But sailors were bringing on board pets, giant tortoises that were always in the way when you were moving round decks, a young gazelle with sharp horns that would headbutt anybody bending over, which was a common posture for sailors doing work.

Who brings a gazelle onto a ship as a pet?