Desert Rat

This is my step fathers father who was part of the 7th Armoured Brigade during the Second World War or better known as the 'Desert Rats'.

Based in North Africa during 1940/1941 and fought in many battles including Operation Crusader in Sidi Rezegh to relieve forces in Tobruk. He then moved on to Burma in early 1942 where he fought hand in hand with my mothers father (who got shot in the hip with a magic bullet as it hit him in the hip, came out through the back of his thigh and then through the front of his foot). He returned to Iraq in 1943 and then onto Egypt for the remains of 1943. In 1944 he was moved to Italy for the remains of the war.

Born in 1917 and now aged 93 he talks about the war as if it was yesterday and has an amazing way of recalling information.

I took this as a black and white portrait as it shows his grizzled skin or manliness as he calls it?

He advised the key to long life is to smoke 20 cigs a day and drink lots of single malt whisky (or again as he put it ' I'm to pickled to die').

Canon EOS 40D with Sigma 24-135 F2.8/4.0. 0.3 sec ~ F4.5 ~ ISO 100 ~ evaluative metering ~ Canon Speedlite 430 ExII 1/64 full power with diffuser and angled at the ceiling with a home made reflector to the bottom right of the picture.