Mark joined the RAC Junior Leaders Regiment at Bovington in September 1976.
His hard efforts to start a Boxing Club finally paid off and the Junior Leaders Regiment Boxing Club was formed.
Before culminating in his pass off in December 1977 was still to be an important year; Mark was awarded the most outstanding boxer of the Junior Leaders’ Regiment and thereby earned the Junior Leaders Regiment Sports Colours.
He reported for duty with the Regiment in January 1978 at Paderborn and was posted to ‘A’ Squadron where he went straight to Third Troop as an operator/loader. He excelled himself on the ranges and was made the Troop Sergeant’s gunner and subsequently became the Squadron Leader, Major Moody’s gunner.
He represented the Squadron in football and cross country and trained the squadron boxing team and took part in exhibition bouts. In February 1981 he transferred to ‘D’ Squadron.
TROOPER JAMES – ‘A TRIBUTE FROM A FRIEND’
“Not only a man for all seasons but a man for all men, much loved by his brother soldiers and his officers, ‘Jesse’ was killed tragically whilst on exercise on Salisbury Plain in April last year.
He joined the Regiment in January 1978 and soon showed the essence of a soldier who was second to none. His unforgettable smile, his grand sense of humour, his enthusiasm, energy, loyalty and professionalism shone through, be it in the boxing ring or on exercise.
There are some qualities in a man that cannot be pinpointed. Qualities that make him what he is; qualities that cannot be specified but made him our friend. From his friends to his family, we should like to say ‘your loss is our loss’.”
