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Army twins retire after 100 years | Army twins retire after 100 years |
(about 12 hours later) | |
Identical twins from Aberdeenshire are retiring from the Army after notching up a century of service between them - in nearly identical careers. | Identical twins from Aberdeenshire are retiring from the Army after notching up a century of service between them - in nearly identical careers. |
Majors Jimmie and Ron James, 65, both joined the Army on the same day in 1959 and were promoted on the same day for almost every rank in their careers. | |
It culminated in the Buchan brothers serving as Regimental Sergeants Major and being commissioned as officers. | It culminated in the Buchan brothers serving as Regimental Sergeants Major and being commissioned as officers. |
The pair are due to retire on Thursday, after serving 50 years each. | The pair are due to retire on Thursday, after serving 50 years each. |
The brothers, from New Pitsligo, were 15 when they joined the Army at the same time, after seeing an advert. | The brothers, from New Pitsligo, were 15 when they joined the Army at the same time, after seeing an advert. |
"We saw an advert in a comic, asking if we'd like to learn a trade in the Army," Jimmie said. | |
"We're from a little village in the north east and we thought there's nothing here to do so we sent off the paperwork." | |
The pair will retire on Thursday, after a century of service between them | The pair will retire on Thursday, after a century of service between them |
They chose to join the Royal Armoured Corps, working with tanks and armoured vehicles. | They chose to join the Royal Armoured Corps, working with tanks and armoured vehicles. |
Jimmie said: "We were both promoted on the same day, five months after joining the 10th Royal Hussars, in Paderborn in Germany. | Jimmie said: "We were both promoted on the same day, five months after joining the 10th Royal Hussars, in Paderborn in Germany. |
"After that, we were promoted to the same rank on the same day for every rank in our career, except Warrant Officer Class 1, but not too far apart." | "After that, we were promoted to the same rank on the same day for every rank in our career, except Warrant Officer Class 1, but not too far apart." |
Ron said the pair had a gentle rivalry. | |
"We're pretty similar," he said. | |
"We've always got on fairly well, and got on even better together when I became Warrant Officer Class 1 and Regimental Sergeant Major before him because he did what he was told." | |
The brothers were commissioned as officers just months apart in 1986, with Jimmie going into the Royal Army Medical Corps, and Ron into the Army Air Corps. | The brothers were commissioned as officers just months apart in 1986, with Jimmie going into the Royal Army Medical Corps, and Ron into the Army Air Corps. |
Even the twins' private lives ran along parallel lines, with the pair marrying within one month of each other. |
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