Supporting generations
Above Stephen (left) shows Wally his prosthetic leg. Wally tried using one after his amputation but couldn’t get used to it
T
wo BLESMA Members
have been deep in
conversation for some
time. They’re chatting
about life in a combat
zone, surviving sinking
ships, the possibility
of running in the 2016
Paralympic Games in Brazil and dealing
with phantom pains. “Do you get itchy feet
on your missing leg?” says one. “I used to,”
comes the reply, “but it’s disappeared since
I got my latest prosthetic. It’s very weird.”
A common meeting between like-minded
military folk, perhaps. But what’s unusual
here is that, at the age of 100, the elder
of the two men, Wally Colburn, could be
great-great-great granddad to the younger,
Stephen Murtagh, who’s just 20. They are
the oldest and youngest members of the
charity respectively, but as they chat, it
soon becomes apparent that despite their
age difference they have much in common.
Wally was seriously injured while serving
in the Merchant Navy in WWII and had his
right leg amputated above the knee when
he was 90 years old. Stephen lost his left
leg above the knee to an IED in 2012, while
serving as a dog handler in Afghanistan.
BLESMA brought them together to discuss
18 www.blesma.org
their experiences, tell their incredible life
stories, and show that, whatever your age
or the nature of your injuries, the charity
is there to help.
Tell us about your backgrounds…
Wally: I was born in 1913 and grew up
on the Isle of Dogs in London. My parents
died young and it meant their kids, 13 of
us, had to look after ourselves. I worked
on the docks, sold paper, and travelled to
America to work on the railways. I also
went to Australia to become a salesman.
When war broke out in 1939, the English
boys returned home – I drove up to Sydney
and set sail for England. When I got back,
I went to the recruitment office and told
them I was there to fight.
Stephen: I grew up in Liverpool and always
fancied joining the Army. I signed up when
I was 16 and went to the Army Foundation
College in Harrogate. I joined 5 Rifles as
an Infantryman but was lucky enough to
get the chance to train as a dog handler.
That was great. I went to South Carolina
in America to complete a four-week
training course. After that I deployed to
Afghanistan, did some more training at
Camp Bastion, then started going out on
patrol with my dog. I was 19 years old.
How did you get your injuries?
S: It was March 2012. I only had 14 days of
my tour left before I was due to head home.
I actually joked with a mate that morning
before I went out on patrol that this was
going to be the day I got blown up. I don’t
even remember leaving the compound now,
although I have seen video footage of me
getting blown up. I was working closely
with another soldier who must have been
standing next to the IED for a while. When
we started walking again I went in front of
him with my dog to patrol the area, and it
went off. I remember one of the lads asking
me if I was OK, and me saying I was fine.
Then I looked down and my leg was gone.
W: I was serving on board HMS Patia in
1941. I was coming off watch one day and
I saw a German plane coming towards us,
firing. I jumped in the spud locker, where
we kept the potatoes, for shelter. I remember
thinking ‘Oh, blimey!’ Then someone gave
me a gun. I’d never used one before because
I was a merchant seaman, but he said ‘Pick
it up and fire it. You can’t miss’. So when
the plane came around again, I pulled the
trigger but the gun misfired. The plane
bombed us and there was an explosion
that threw me up in the air. I thought:
‘You’re in it now, Wal’. I was up in the fres