Clip Lawrence Kerr
I would describe myself as a keen, well-motivated person, who’s keen and eager to do well.
Always ready to give 300% and expect exactly the same back from my superiors and my peers.
I am a Scotsman, however, you know, I still serve Her Majesty the Queen, and I’m British.
Sue: In Private lives today we meet Lawrence Kerr. He’s a Colour Sergeant in the
British Army. Lawrence is 33 years old, and he was born in Kilmarnock - a large town on the west coast of Scotland. When he was 15, Lawrence left school and began work as a joiner, a carpenter. But it wasn’t long before he decided to join the Army, and he joined a Regiment called the Scots Guards.
Three years ago, he achieved his present rank of Colour Sergeant. As we’ll discover, Lawrence is very committed to his career in the Army, and we’ll hear him talk about how his career affects his family life. First, Colour Sergeant
Lawrence Kerr remembers the day when the young joiner decided he wanted to be a soldier.
Talk about English © BBC Learning English
Page 2 of 5 bbclearningenglish.com Clip Lawrence Kerr
It was one lunch break, I suddenly, I was walking up to the baker’s shop to have my lunch, and walked past the careers office, and all of a sudden had a thought, you know that, maybe the life as a Joiner wasn’t for me and I wanted to, you know, spread my wings if you like, get out of, you know, a normal mundane sort of life on the west coast of Scotland. So I decided then, at
16 years old, that, I thought I’d give the Army, and especially the Scots Guards a go.
Sue: Giving the Army a go, has given Lawrence the chance to travel - he’s worked in
Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Canada, The
United States of America and the list goes on. But while he was working in
England, he met Dawn, who’s now his wife, and they have two daughters.
Often, when Lawrence is sent on a tour of duty - in Britain or overseas - his family go and live where he’s working. But on some tours of duty, Lawrence goes alone, and he might be separated from his family for up to 6 months at a time. So being in the Army means living “on the move”, and everyone in the family has to be adaptable. When he’s away, Lawrence admits he misses his family very much.
Clip Lawrence Kerr
I’m married to my wife Dawn, and I’ve got two daughters - Nicola and Natasha. It takes a certain kind of person in the Army, because it’s so unpredictable what you’re going to be doing next. Sometimes you’ve got to move house maybe up to three times in the space of three years, which does put a hell of a lot of pressure on the family - the wife and the children. But, like they say - absence makes the heart grow fonder.