Airborne Assault MuseumArticle
Persian Gulf
Within five days of the Emir’s request 8,000 British troops had deployed to Kuwait including the carrier HMS Bulwark and a ...
Barry Hirst began military service as a Boy Soldier with the Royal Armoured Corps(RAC), based at Bovington.He joined the 4th Hussars in 1955 and saw service as part of the BAOR in Hohne, Germany. He 1958 he began his Airborne service with 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) and took part in the deployments to Cyprus, Kuwait, Bahrain and Libya, before rejoining the Hussars with the Queens Royal Irish (QRIH) in 1962, where he served in Singapore, Borneo and the Ipoh region of Malaysia.
In 1964 he began four years service with Parachute Squadron RAC, including deployments to Aden, Radfan and the Gulf States. After a short spell back with the QRIH, in 1969 he became a Staff Instructor at the Guided Weapons Wing, Gunnery School RAC based at Lulworth, then later Paderborn, Germany.
In 1971 he rejoined the QRIH and took part in the UN mission to Cyprus, and attained the rank of SQMS during this period.
Leaving the military for several years following 22 years regular service, Danny re-entered service as a Volunteer to 10 PARA in 1983, forming part of 5 Coy of the Home Service Force (HSF), a Territorial/Volunteer force established as Home Defence unit against sabotage in 1980s.
He is still active in the Airborne community and PRA, and now volunteers regularly at the Airborne Assault Museum, Duxford.
Service History
- 1953 Boys Squadron Royal Armoured Corps (Trooper)
- 1955 4th Queens Own Hussars (Corporal)
- 1958 The 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) (Lance Corporal)
- 1962 The Queens Royal Irish Hussars (Corporal)
- 1964 Parachute Squadron, RAC (Corporal)
- 1968 The Queens Royal Irish Hussars (Corporal)
- 1969 (Staff Instructor) Guided Weapons Wing, RAC, Gunnery School, Lulworth (Sergeant)
- 1971 The Queens Royal Irish Hussars (Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant)
- 1983 The 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (10 PARA) (Corporal)
Decorations
General Service Medal Clasp, South Arabia
General Service Medal Clasp, Malay Peninsula
1964
