Acting Captain Alexander T C Smith

Alexander Smith was commissioned into the Royal Signals under the National Service scheme on 7 November 1959 and served with 23rd Signal Regiment based in Lincoln.

On completion he joined the Territorial Army (TA) with Signal Squadron of 149 Infantry Brigade in his hometown of Gateshead.

“In my civilian job I moved back to Lincoln and applied to join 16 (Lincoln) Independent Company in 1961. My Army job interview was with another, rather more famous, former Signals Officer, Brigadier Anthony Deane-Drummond DSO MC, who was of course the Commander of 44 Independent Brigade at the time.

Fortunately I was accepted and went on to meet another remarkable man, Major Donald Fletcher MC.

Major Fletcher, a natural leader of men, who led by example, took the Lincoln Company on TA annual training camps to Singapore/Malaya in 1962 and Cyprus in 1963, which was very much ground breaking for those days. Major Fletcher was promoted to Lt Colonel and went off to Brunei during March 1964. I took part in both of those exercises and several others.”

Alexander Smith transferred to the Territorial Reserve of Officers on 25 August 1964.