Richard Garrett joined up in 1939 and was made a second lieutenant in the Notts and Derby Regiment (the Sherwood Foresters) at the outbreak of war.
It was decided to make for the North Sea coast, a 300-mile trek across the highest mountain range in Scandinavia.
Since the Germans were already there, it was decided to continue to Eikfjord where a fishing boat was acquired on the strength of a £100 iou (which was honoured at the end of the war).
During his time stationed back in Britain he suffered a fall from a horse leaving him with severe concussion, but was finally passed as fit for service and took part in Operation Torch, the invasion of Tunisia.
His postwar career included founding and running a company producing house magazines for large corporations and an involvement in the British motor racing scene of the sixties and seventies.