WHEN MAJOR Christopher Lawton celebrated his 55th birthday last weekend the occasion marked not only the end of an illustrious army career, but concludes an era as well.

The last serving member of the original Durham Light Infantry, his retirement closes the final chapter in the history of the region's most famous regiment, which has a history stretching back almost 250 years.

At 17 Major Lawton was among the last group of recruits to join the original DLI, before all county light infantry battalions became amalgamated as the Light Infantry.

Born at Croxdale Hall in 1950, he lived in Durham's Meadowfield, leaving school to work for a farmer.

He said: "I did some time at Houghall College and then out of the blue found myself at a recruiting office.

"Because I had been at the college they tried to convince me to join the veterinarian service or Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers.

"But there was never any question of me joining any other regiment. I was adamant. To me the DLI was the Army."

Major Lawton's first posting was to Cyprus, where he served in a peace-keeping role. While there the 1 DLI became the 4 Light Infantry, and the old colours were placed in the DLI chapel in Durham Cathedral, after a parade on Palace Green on December 12, 1968.

Major Lawton said: "It was very sad. The DLI and all the territorial battalions had a fantastic wartime record.

"Durham remains the strongest county recruiting area for the Light Infantry."

It was while jungle training in Malaya in August 1969 that Major Lawton found himself thrown into the 'urban jungle' of Northern Ireland, and was among the first soldiers deployed to the province.

He said: "We were told we had 12 days to prepare for Northern Ireland.

"We arrived so quickly there was no accommodation and we had to sleep in shop doorways at first.

"We became a buffer between Catholics and Protestants. They still lived on the same estates then, but the Catholics were being burned out by Protestant mobs.

"It was exciting and frightening at the same time. We never knew who our enemies were."

The troops were at first welcomed by the Catholics, but then the political tide turned.

Major Lawton said: "It went from sticks and stones, to bullets and then to bombs and on to sophisticated bombs and then remote-control bombs."

During several tours over the ensuing two decades, Major Lawton witnessed the entire conflict unfold, losing some close friends.

They included Pte John Rudman of Hartlepool (shot in ambush), Sgt Tye Whitelock of Durham (killed by a sniper) and Cpl Tommy Taylor of Sunderland (bomb blast).

It was with a certain amount of pleasure that Major Lawton, as quartermaster of the Royal Green Jackets, oversaw the dismantling of the army bases.

Major Lawton, who has also served in Singapore, Germany, Canada, Kenya and Gibraltar was awarded a commendation during his first Irish tour and an MBE on completion of his final tour in 2001.

From 2001 to 2004, he was the chief range officer in the Army's largest training area and range complex in Europe, at Senelager, in Germany.

He returned to Durham to finish where he started.

Major Lawton said: "I will continue to support the late DLI members and the present and future Light Infantry soldiers as the County Regimental Secretary Light Infantry."

Major Lawton is married to Teresita and they have two sons, Steven, 31, and Michael, 30, and two grand-daughters.