IN CONVERSATION WITH SHAUN LEAVEY David Birley
DB What was your childhood like? SL I never knew my father as he was killed in Normandy in 1944. I grew up in Hampshire with my mother’s parents. I was sent to an old-fashioned prep school, where I was taught Greek which came in useful later in my life. I then went to Clifton College. DB How did your career evolve? SL I did an extended short service commission 124 | Sherborne Times | April 2021
in the army. I served in Germany, Northern Ireland, Aden, South Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. The Middle East tour really was the last days of the British Empire. I resigned in 1967 and stayed on the reservist list for the next ten years, which got me to Cyprus and, briefly, Egypt. As I had always enjoyed the countryside, I went into agriculture. After a year in Cirencester, I worked on a
