It was 1951 and Brian joined the 1st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment. After training in Chester he was shipped to Port Said aboard the troopship “Empire Tess” from Southampton.

His first 12 months in an anti-tank platoon were, he admits, good, but the Army coup in ’52 changed the political landscape and his time became a daily round of skirmishes and gunfights.

Said Brian: “What an adventure it was when we first set sail for Egypt but then it all changed and the Suez Canal Zone was not a pleasant place to be”

“Always on your guard, you were under a constant threat from terrorism and every day there was a report from some part of the Zone about a killing or bombing.”

“I had been in the Army Cadets at Canterbury Barracks, so I knew a little about the life under canvas but not about the dust, dirt, the flies and the bullets.”

He continued: “I was stationed, for a time, close to the Sweet Water Canal and though is sound picturesque, it was anything but; it was smelly, with dead animals and victims of the terrorist activities found floating in it.”

So, as well as the bullets and the bombs, you had to be aware of the disease and fever that spread like wildfire in this hot, humid and arid land.”

There was little opportunity for relaxation and almost every town was deemed too dangerous for troops to visit.

The occasion when Brian did have a night out, his first for many months, he went to the cinema in Ismailia – with his rifle and 50 rounds of ammunition – naturally.

Half way through, the men were called out to fight a battle against defiant Egyptian police – which saw three British soldiers killed.

During his two years with the East Lancs, Brian belonged to the 51/12 group and today, 68 years later, he wants to meet up with any of his old buddies.

So far he has only managed to locate two of them – Frank Shanley in Mellor and Bob Slater in Ewood.

Brian can recall Regimental Sergeant Major Joe Duffy, of Blackburn, who he describes as a strict leader but a pleasure to work for. Sgt Arthur Parrington of Burnley, Eddie Hope of Great Harwood, Sgt Bill Shorrock of Darwen and Sgt Jack Smith of Blackburn.