The army became my family after brain injury – Remembrance Sunday means the world

A DECORATED officer proudly says Remembrance Day proves that the military is the world’s biggest support network.

Lieutenant Colonel Lee Curson joined the army 20 years ago and quickly learned why comrades consider themselves one big family.

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The Troon-based military man, originally from Lanark, was honoured to take command of 6 SCOTS – the sixth Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland – a year ago.

But the 43-year-old, married to wife Lynne, almost had to quit his career before he even got started.

Lee, who has two sons, Benjamin, 14, and Robin, 11, said: “I had a bit of an abrupt start to my career. I was assaulted at a social event in Cyprus and had a significant brain injury and spent the first year of my commissioning service downgraded.

“But I was very lucky. The news travelled quite quickly across the battalion and when I got out of hospital the support was amazing.

“Even private soldiers would come across and ask how I was. I hadn’t spent any time in the battalion at this juncture, I’d merely been in three days before it happened.

“I felt support from across the battalion, not just the officers’ mess, but the families as well. There were probably stories about a young officer that’s just arrived, been seriously assaulted and is now in hospital.

“When I went to the company family barbecue that we had in the summer, a number of the wives that had heard of me were like, ‘Crikey how are you keeping? I hope everything’s OK and you’re on the mend.

“Some people join the army for a short period of time, but I think a lot stay because of that bond and that camaraderie and that bubble of friendship and support that there is. That’s certainly why I’m still in the army.

“It supported me well when I was seriously injured. Maybe another employer, if I hadn’t been in the military, may not have been so supportive. So from an early age I felt supported and it’s given me a lot of professional and personal reward.

“Yes, the army asks a lot of you, but my view is that it gives a lot back as well.”

Lee, who has served in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Germany and Kenya, will lead the Remembrance Day Parade in Glasgow this weekend.

Remembrance Day is held on November 11, the day the First World War came to an end in 1918. According to official records, over 16 million people died during the war and although there is no accepted total of Scottish war dead, estimates vary between 100,000 and 135,000.

Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November and commemorates those involved in both wars as well as the later conflicts.

Lee considers it a special privilege to be involved in events after growing up in a military family himself. His stepdad Robert was in the army and so the meaning behind the occasion has been paramount.

He said: “There’s a collective understanding and whilst we’ll get together and maybe have a glass of port before we go on parade, it’s always very respectful.

“You’ll do something together but some people will want time to themselves. It’s about that respect, allowing people to remember and reflect.

“My immediate thoughts are about those that have gone that I’ve served alongside or know of as part of being in the army.

“I often think of personal circumstances. My mum Jacqueline died at my final year of university before I joined the army so she’s never seen me there. When she married my stepfather he was in the army at the time. I consider myself as growing up as part of a military family.

“I remember my stepfather putting on his uniform early on and going to be on parade and then I had a personal involvement with Remembrance Day and remembrance activities from probably 1996 when I joined the Army Cadets until now.

“I’ve done a couple of events in Glasgow thus far but being on parade in uniform with a number of the battalion will absolutely be a highlight of my command tenure.”

Lee adds: “I think we still have a lot of support from the public across the UK. It’s seeing the public lining the streets and the support there is, particularly in Scotland.

“It’s across the UK but being Scottish and marching through Scotland, which I’ve done on a number of occasions, is a very proud moment. From the very young to the old and bold, there’ll be a great presence and rightly so, they’ll all have their place on the parade.”

The Lieutenant Colonel recalls the exact moment his army journey started and the lessons immediately instilled in him. He’s thankful for his sudden introduction to military life and thinks it’s a great career for like-minded people.

But whether it’ll be the chosen path for his own sons remains to be seen.

Lee said: “They call it ‘ironing board Sunday’, or they used to anyway, when all the families drop off their sons, daughters, partners, boyfriends, girlfriends at the start of training.

“We’d driven down from Scotland and it was quite a long journey. My mum had passed away the year before actually so it was something that we spoke about as a family, about me joining the army, quite a lot.

“It was just my stepdad dropping me off and he kind of just shook my hand, patted me on the back and it was kind of, ‘You know what to do, just go and get on with it.’

“And actually, that very short, sharp farewell was like ‘right, it’s up to me now, to find my bedroom and start unpacking I suppose’.

“It was maybe a bit abrupt, but also something I will never forget.”

He adds: “My wife is hugely supportive and a lot of my in-laws love me being part of the military, they think it’s excellent.

“It’s been a great grounding for my family and my two boys. I’m not sure if they’ll join the army. I’ll leave that down to them. But if they come in one day from school or if they’re at university I’ll encourage them the whole way. I think it must be a personal decision to join the army.”

After two decades of service, it would be easy to think that Lee has given all he can to the army. But he still reckons he has plenty left in the tank when it comes to serving his country.

He said: “The army has been very good to me, I enjoy it, I like the variety. It’s not for everybody changing jobs every two or three years, but I’ve thrived on that.

“The challenge of starting a new job and working hard and learning new skills, that’s really appealed to me throughout my career.

“You kind of have to get used to being uncomfortable. Unless the army decides otherwise, I intend to see through my full career.
“And this Sunday will be quite the honour.”

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