Norman Hicks was born at Walton Hall near Wakefield Yorkshire in 1948. He left home in nearby Royston at the age of 16 to join the Royal Air Force as a boy apprentice in 1964. Qualifying as an operating Theatre Technician he served at home and abroad in Aden (South Arabia) 1967 and Cyprus 1970-73. Upon retirement, having an interest in both railways and the military he decided to write the biography of his father Tom. Tom Hicks was born in 1919 in Widnes Lancashire. With the exception of the war years he was a railwayman all his working life from calling up lad to engine driver. Tom still lives in Royston and at the age of 93 Tom is currently President of the Barnsley Branch of the Parachute Regimental Association and President of Notton Tennis Club.