Warrant Officer Class 1 Anthony Blake

Anthony Blake was born in the Dingle area of Liverpool in 1954. He attended St George's Secondary School until 1969 and started an apprenticeship as a coachbuilder with a local firm. In 1971 he decided to join the Army, following in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather.

He reported to The Parachute Regiment Depot in September, along with 120 other recruits who joined 373 Platoon. Only 40 members of 373 Platoon completed P Coy.

Pte ‘Tony’ Blake was posted to 7 Platoon, C Coy, 3 PARA and later served in the Medium Machine Gun Platoon, Support Coy, 3 PARA. His first posting was to Cyprus in 1972 on a UN tour, before going to Northern Ireland. Pte Blake took part in NATO exercises in Germany and Italy and completed jungle training in Malaya.

He left 3 PARA in September 1975 and after a short period in ‘Civvy Street’ he joined 208 Field Hospital (V) based in Liverpool and served in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2007.

WO1 Blake retired from 208 Field Hospital (V) in 2010 and now lives in Merseyside.