Ian Moore – Father’s pride after I outranked him

Simon: And what made him come round eventually? Was it …?

When I outranked him (laughs). It got to the point where after a few years in the Military and I sort of saw the light and started studying and working hard for various things, and I was … he made it as far as Corporal.

Well, I made it to Corporal, or Leading Hand in the Royal Navy. I made it to Leading Hand when I was 19, and then when I was 22 I made it to Petty Officer.

I was a Chief by 26, I was a Charge Chief by 30, which is more or less getting up towards what he would consider as being Staff Sergeant and Warrant Officer 2.

It was only when I reached Petty Officer and outranked him that he’d made in the Army, that he then turned round to people and was telling them, “My son’s a Petty Officer in the Navy. That’s equivalent to a Sergeant you know” so there was a little bit of pride there.