Peter Laidler, himself the son of a long-serving British Army Warrant Officer, attended the Armourers’ Course at the Army Apprentices School, Carlisle between January, 1963 and December, 1965. Peter Laidler went to Malaya with the last British Forces to be based there. This was followed by service with the 1st, 4th and 8th Royal Australian Regiments plus the New Zealand Infantry in South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.