Malcolm
was born in Dartmouth, Devon on 8th January 1936.
He was sent out to
Australia, under one of the schemes to promote the migration of young people
of British stock, at the age of thirteen and part of his education was
received at Geelong Technical School.
He returned to
England and in 1954, joined the Army as a regular soldier in the Devonshire
Regiment. He saw service with them in Kenya at the time of Mau Mau terror,
seeking to protect the European settlers and suppress the insurrection.
A year later he
volunteered to become a parachutist and was posted to 2 Para Battalion. He
saw service with this Battalion in Cyprus, again in an anti-terrorist role,
this time against EOKA. Then he took part in the 1956 landing in Suez to
seize the Canal Zone.
He then transferred
to the Airborne RASC and served with 63 Para RASC for five years from 1960
in Radfan and Bahrain. For his last three years of service he was a member
of 22 Air Despatch Service.
He took his discharge
in 1969, having thus completed fourteen years of active service.
