Marking 60 years since the end of National Service

The Royal British Legion (RBL) has invited National Service veterans and their families to participate in 'Remembering National Service - 60 years on’, a commemorative event at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, part of the RBL group of charities, to acknowledge the service and sacrifices of this generation.

Squad photo featuring Ray Harrington during his National Service days.

One of the attendees is 87-year-old Ray Harrington, who now lives in Flint Mountain.

Ray served in the Royal Marines, and like many other men from the time, has many stories to tell of his two years in the National Service.

He enjoyed his time, saying: “It made men out of boys.”

Ray Harrington, who has been reflecting on his time in National Sevice.

National Service was a standardised form of peacetime conscription, introduced in 1947 for all able-bodied men aged between 18 and 30.

Looking back on his time, Ray recalls being in the right place at the right time, allowing him to take the Special Boat Service (SBS) course. Of an original 40 people taking part, only seven passed the course - with Ray being one of them.

Photo shared by Ray Harrington, of his time carrying out his National Service.

During his National Service, alongside a partner, Ray also took part in the 140-mile Devizes to Westminster Bridge canoe race. The pair took 131 hours and won.

See more: Scout, Cub and Cadet memories from Wrexham and Flintshire

He also became a parachute jumping instructor, adding: “We were only meant to do a maximum of three jumps in a day, but once I did 13 jumps in a day, thankfully I never had any injuries from that.”

Ray is still in touch with comrades from his time in National Service, and is looking forward to seeing old friend Peter Backlog, at the Royal British Legion’s Remembering National Service event today the National Memorial Arboretum.