TA centenarian joins Service centenary celebration
22 Sep 08
A 103-year-old Territorial Army veteran has helped the reserve force celebrate its centenary as a guest of honour at the Preston Military Show on Saturday, 20 September 2008.
Leonard Foulds pictured with members of the aptly named TA unit, 103 Regiment Royal Artillery
[Picture: Chris Barker]
Leonard Foulds is one of the oldest veterans of the Territorial Army (TA). Born on 19 March 1905, Leonard is three years and two weeks older than the TA.
Leonard was one of 3,000 people who attended the Preston Military Show at Fulwood Barracks on Saturday and he beamed with pride as he met members of the current generation of TA soldiers.
Among the attactions on the day, the crowds were treated to live music from one Regular Army and two TA bands, and a spectacular demonstration of military tactics by North West TA soldiers.
Leonard Foulds was born in Stockport, where he went to school (leaving at 14) and later completed an apprenticeship as an engineer and then a motor mechanic. He later moved to Liverpool to manage a motor workshop.
North West TA soldiers put on a display of military tactics at Preston Military Show
[Picture: Chris Barker]
He joined the TA in 1939, enlisting with what we now know as 'the REME' (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) at Ormskirk Drill Hall as part of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. War was declared at the end of his first week of training. 55th Division was assigned to home defences and Leonard found himself based across the UK for the first half of the war, initially inspecting anti-aircraft guns and later running vehicle repair workshops. He said:
"We didn't know where the Germans would invade so the Brigadier ordered 8,000 maps of England. We didn't have much equipment and all the vehicles we had had been sent over to France. We had to buy civilian vehicles and make do – I remember using buses sawn in half and vegetable carts."
In the latter half of the war Leonard was posted to British India, serving close to the Afghan border as well as in Karachi and Rawalpindi, at one point being in charge of all the vehicle workshops in North West India.
Leonard Foulds as a TA Major during the Second World War
[Picture: Gavin Trafford]
Leonard left the Forces with the rank of Major in August 1946. He was awarded a Territorial Decoration to mark his TA service, which entitles him to use the initials TD after his name. Of his Service, Leonard said:
"It was a wonderful experience – I had such a varied time. When they join the Army, most people join a regiment or a battalion and stay there, whereas I moved around to work with infantry, artillery and in the workshops. It (the TA) is a very useful thing to be in."