PRIVATE Eric Godfrey Campbell appeared before a court-martial hearing at Merebrook Camp, Malvern, in December, 1950, charged with being absent from the Army for seven years!
As a 17 year old he had joined the Sherwood Foresters as a volunteer on December 16, 1943.
Eight days later he had some home leave for a Christmas Eve party.
"My friends persuaded me to keep staying an extra day and, as the days went by, it became more and more difficult to go back," he explained.
He went to Edinburgh with a friend and worked part-time in a bar, at a dance hall and in a sweet shop before eventually "coming to his senses".
And Private Campbell's 'reward' for finally giving himself up after seven years - he was sentenced to one year's detention.
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