In 1944 Ken Tout, known for books such as “Tank!” and “A Fine Night for Tanks”, landed on the Normandy beaches as a Sherman tank gunner and later commander. After further service in Palestine he entered theological college and worked with charities and development agencies such as Oxfam, the Salvation Army, HelpAge International and the United Nations Ageing unit. He researched and wrote texts on the ageing of the world’s population, receiving an OBE and a United Nations citation for services to ageing. On one occasion he was called to advise Pope John Paul II on age-related poverty in developing countries. Another unique experience, in Chile in 1960, was to assist the General commanding relief operations at the epicentre of the world’s most powerful earthquake ever recorded. More recently he was awarded a Knight’s Cross of Merit for researching the actions of Free Polish Troops in the Second World War. He has also written a novel, a book of war poems, a history of the Christian Church and musical plays. As a pianist, conductor and trombonist, a favourite memory is, at age 6, of being given a sixpence by Elgar when the composer was having shoes repaired in the Tout workshop. He is Vice-President of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry Association and an Honorary Research Fellow of Keele University. He lives with his wife Jai, a former Chairman of an NHS Foundation Trust, in West Sussex, and has four children.
