Vintage Roger

'I think prison has done me very little harm and some good. I am now far better read, far less smug and conceited, far more tolerant and considerably more capable of looking after myself.' In 1930, 21-year-old Roger Mortimer was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards, and would spend the next eight years stationed at Chelsea Barracks. He lived a fairly leisurely existence, with his parents' house in Cadogan Gardens a stone's throw away, and pleasant afternoons were whiled away at the racecourse or a members' club - officers in the battalion were even allocated 'soldier servants'.

Admittedly things got a little hairy in Palestine in 1938, when Roger, now a captain, found himself amidst the action in the Arab Uprising. The worst, however, was yet to come. While fighting the Germans in 1940, Roger was knocked unconscious by a shell explosion - he was then incorrectly reported to have been killed in action.

Upon waking he was delighted to find that he had survived. Though he was somewhat les