Local veterans have been sharing their stories and reflecting on their experiences as part of this year’s Armed Forces Week, offering powerful insights into military life, service and life beyond the forces.
A series of local case studies has shone a light on the personal journeys behind the uniform, highlighting resilience, sacrifice and the lasting impact of service. Visitors attending Armed Forces Day in Newcastle also had the opportunity to talk to veterans and show their support for our armed forces community.
The stories shared during the week also highlighted the transition to civilian life as well as the importance of remembrance.
Armed Forces Week concluded with a well-attended Armed Forces Day event at the Civic Centre that brought forces personnel, cadets, veterans and residents together in a shared moment of recognition and community pride.
Peter Thompson: A soldier from the start
For Peter Thompson, service wasn’t just a career path, it was the thread that stitched together every chapter of his life.
Born and raised in Elswick, where the morning air carried the smell of the breweries, Peter grew up surrounded by community, hard work and pride in where you came from. After moving to Benwell, he found himself living on Adelaide Terrace, a place he still remembers fondly.
By 15 ½ Peter was ready for something bigger so he joined the Army and began a journey that would shape his life for decades to come.
But his passion for the military life started even earlier when he became a cadet with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers based at Fenham Barracks. You can still here the pride in his voice when het talks about his time with the Fusiliers. “Fenham Barracks was a lovely place,” he recalls. “It’s what set me up for a life in the army.”
Peter’s military career began in Harrogate, where he completed the exams that would decide his future as a boy soldier. From there he was posted to Oswestry, near the Welsh border, where he became a Junior Leader before earning the rank of Junior Sergeant in the Infantry Junior Leader’s Battalion.
Three years later he moved to Shrewsbury for two weeks training at the Light Infantry Depot before joining the 3rd Battalion Light Infantry in Minden, Germany. While there he became an anti‑tank specialist, firing the Wombat.
He was then sent on multiple tours in Northern Ireland between 1974 and 1977.
While on leave Peter met Patricia, or Pat as he calls her, the woman who would become his wife and who he is still happily married to 50 years later.
After Germany came Catterick, but Pat wasn’t happy there. She asked Peter if he would leave the army and, after a final tour in Northern Ireland, he bought himself out. But the pull of service never really left him.
During the firefighters’ strike in the late1970s, Peter visited his old battalion. “Come on, Tomo,” they said “come back in.”
He was tempted, but Pat had another idea, the Territorials. He wasn’t sure at first, but he decided to give it a try. And that “try” turned into over 20 years of service.
Across three decades in both the regular Army and the TA, Peter earned six different cap badges from six different regiments including the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Royal Logistic Corps. He says he loved every regiment he served with.
Between postings, Peter worked as a bus driver. The job was a perfect fit around his TA commitments and he could enjoy the best of both worlds. Life at home and life in the army.
Eventually, Peter joined Newcastle City Council as a Rapid Response Officer, a role he held for 25 years. “I loved every minute of it,” he says.
His work took him across Newcastle, helping keep the city running smoothly and supporting the community he’d grown up in. It was a different kind of service, but one he took just as seriously.
Peter’s military career took him far beyond the North East. He served in Germany, Norway (where he learned to ski), Canada, Gibraltar on UN duties, Northern Ireland and Edinburgh Castle where he lived within its ancient walls.
He remembers Edinburgh, as both beautiful and spooky. And he laughs as he recalls how he and his army buddies found Rose Street when they were on leave in the city. The street was famous for its long line of pubs that, unlike those in Newcastle at the time, didn’t close at 3pm.
His stories are full of humour and adventure, but also loss. “I’ve got some good stories,” he says, “but there are also friends I lost.”
And that’s why, for Peter, Armed Forces Day is more than a date on the calendar, it’s a reminder.
Peter says “It’s really important that people don’t forget the veterans that have passed whether it was in the Falklands, the Gulf, World War II, World War I or any other conflict. Let’s not forget what those soldiers went through.”
He tells us that he often thinks of the Kohima Epitaph: ‘When you go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today’ and hopes that people won’t forget.
He says he is proud of the council where he used to work for organising events that honour the armed forces and veterans.
“It’s great what the council have done” he says, “events like these help the kids understand and remember.
“Hopefully it’ll be even bigger next year. Because in the future, it’s going to be harder to remember and we must never forget.”
Jeff Elliot: A life of service
Growing up on a farm outside Dinnington Village, Jeff thought his future was mapped out but his father had different ideas. He was determined that Jeff wouldn’t follow him into farming or get a job working down the pits. But that left Geoff with few options to choose from.
After losing his mum at a young age life at home wasn’t always easy so when the chance to go to boarding school in Cheshire came along he took it.
The decision gave him space, structure and a real sense that he could do something different.
At just 14, Jeff tried to joined Junior Leader’s Regiment of the army but when they realised his age he was told to come back after his fifteenth birthday. After his initial training as a boy soldier, Jeff began building a career that would push him far beyond anything he had known.
He earned his red beret with 63 Parachute Squadron and served in places like Italy and Northern Ireland before moving into a specialist role as an air despatcher. There, he was responsible for preparing and delivering vital supplies by air. He secured everything from ammunition to vehicles to food and water to planes before dropping them, usually by parachute, to where they were needed.
It was demanding work that required absolute precision, trust, and teamwork, skills that would prove critical in the years ahead.
In 1982, just months after helping form a new Joint Helicopter Support Unit, Jeff was deployed to the Falklands after Argentina declared war.
Early into the campaign, the Atlantic Conveyor was hit and most of their equipment was lost. Suddenly, Jeff and his colleagues, who had travelled on a different ship, were operating with almost nothing relying on their ingenuity and resilience and the one remaining Chinook helicopter, which was later named “The Survivor.”
Based in remote and exposed locations, Jeff’s team worked tirelessly, moving troops, fuel and essential supplies across challenging terrain. Jeff, a Corporal by rank, stepped up to command a 16-person unit. He was probably the lowest ranked unit commander in the conflict.
Under intense pressure, his team delivered. In one remarkable moment, they loaded more than 80 paratroopers onto a helicopter designed for around 30, along with their equipment to get them where they were needed to keep operations moving.
Jeff and his unit were also responsible for transporting Gurkha troops into position, bringing prisoners from Goose Green, moving aviation fuel to keep the Sea King helicopters in fuel and recovering and repositioning military vehicles and key infrastructure.
Operating with limited kit and constant uncertainty, adaptability was everything and Jeff’s leadership played a vital role right up to the end of the Falklands War.
Jeff continued his military career with postings to Germany, another tour of Northern Ireland and serving in the first Gulf War. In 1992 he was offered redundancy.
Jeff recalls “After tours of the Falklands, Northern Ireland and the Gulf I was worried that my luck might start to run out so I decided it was time for me to move on. I was glad to leave and sorry to leave.”
He went on to build a civilian career, working at both Newcastle and Northumbria Universities before retiring.
For a long time, Jeff kept his distance from anything to do with the armed forces and remembrance. Like many veterans, stepping away felt necessary. But in time, his perspective changed.
“I had my demons,” Jeff says “but it’s time to remember again. I’ve started attending Remembrance services and I joined the Royal British Legion so I can reconnect with the experiences that have shaped my life.”
Jeff’s story is one of resilience, growth and quiet leadership. From a shy young boy with limited opportunities to commanding troops in a war zone, his journey shows what’s possible when someone is given a chance and takes it.
He now encourages others to consider the armed forces not just as a career, but as a way to build confidence, skills and purpose.
Jeff’s journey is a powerful reminder that making what seems like a simple choice can to an extraordinary life and that service can shape who you are long after the uniform comes off.
Jeff served his country well and is rightly proud of his time in the armed forces stating
“The Army brings things out of you that you didn’t know were there. It really was the making of me.”