Ricky Gellissen
As told to Tim Heap Photography Markus Bidaux
I joined the Royal Army Medical Corps when I was 17, with a view to becoming a nurse. I’d been informed that nursing had Crown exemption, so you didn’t have to wait until you were 18 as with other professions. But when I completed my military basic training and passed out, I learnt that wasn’t exactly the case: it only applied to women who started their training at 17 years and 10 months, so that by the time they finished they’d be 18.