Page 9 - They Also Served

By far the largest individual category is that of politicians, as this was a natural choice for those who had served their country and possessed strong leadership qualities. The majority joined the Conservative Party, although there are, surprisingly, a few communists. The most famous politician of them all, Winston Churchill, is already the subject of countless books. Faced with condensing his long life into 1,200 words, he is the one exception to the format of the short biographies, and I have concentrated on the lesser-known aspect of his life, as a soldier.
There were a few Internationals at Sandhurst pre-1947, with King Alfonso XII of Spain perhaps the most notable. However, those since then have provided a rich vein of life experience. Unfortunately, many – too many – paid the ultimate price in the coups and counter-coups that rocked the world in the 1960s and 1970s.
Finally, not everybody who trained at Sandhurst was ‘a good egg’. There is a smattering of traitors and cads, although, for the sake of taste, I have not included those convicted of murder. However, when put alongside the 97% of the great and the good, it is perhaps heartening that the likes of fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and Waffen-SS Officer Benson Freeman are very much in the minority.
To conclude, the selection of subjects was entirely mine, with the hardest part of writing this book being who to leave out. This was especially hard with current and former heads of state, of which there are enough to fill yet another separate book. I make no apology for the majority of the subjects being white males because that was, essentially, the population of Sandhurst for the majority of its existence. However, when somebody writes an updated volume of this book, there will be far more diversity. For instance, Kidane Cousland (2016), Barnardo’s boy, Sword of Honour winner and Royal Artillery officer, awarded the MBE for services to Rastafarians, and Hannah Graf (2010), former REME officer, awarded the MBE for services to the transgender community. They, and others, will undoubtedly have made their mark outside the Army.
The cap-badge of the Royal Military Academy features the motto ‘Serve to Lead’, and to sum up the subjects of this book ...‘They also Served’.
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