Captain takes the salute

PROUD and honoured . . . Captain Roy Zaman

A LONG-SERVING former soldier and military man has been awarded an MBE in the New Years honours list.

Captain Roy Zaman (60), from Springhead, is currently based in Suva on the island of Fiji as a British Army Support Officer.

The father-of-three started his military career in 1967, serving with the Queens Lancashire Regiment and the Royal Ghurka Rifles.

Having worked his way up the ranks, the grandfather-of-six retired 10 years ago from active duty following his last tour in Brunei.

Since then, he has worked in a number of roles for the Ministry of Defence and is set to return to Oldham next month following the end of his latest three-year posting in Fiji.

The first person to be appointed to the challenging role, he is charged with supporting the 2,300 Fijian families serving in the British Army.

His daughter Lisa Buckley, of Chadderton, said: “My dad has been with the Army for years, he has always worked hard and puts everything into his job.

“He has been posted in countries including Germany and Cyprus, and I’m sure once he is back in Oldham, it won’t be long before he and my mum Susan are off again.

“He will be very proud to have been honoured this way.”

He was told about the award for his military work four weeks ago.

Roy said: “It is fantastic, to think that a good working-class lad from Oldham has received recognition for a job well done in a very challenging environment about as far away from the UK as possible. I was very shocked. I am very proud and honoured to be awarded the MBE.”

Both of his sons have followed in his footsteps and now serve in the Army.