WHEN Major Christopher Lawton celebrates his 55th birthday today, the occasion marks not only the end of an illustrious army career, but concludes an era as well.

The last serving member of the original Durham Light Infantry, his retirement closes the final chapter in the history of the region's most famous regiment, which has a history going back nearly 250 years.

At the age of 17, Maj Lawton was among the last group of recruits to join the original DLI, before all county light infantry battalions merged into the Light Infantry.

Born at Croxdale Hall in 1950, he lived in Durham's Meadowfield, leaving school to work for a farmer. He said: "I did some time at Houghall College and then out of the blue found myself at a recruiting office.

"Because I had been at the college they tried to convince me to join the veterinarian service or Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers.

"But there was never any question of me joining any other regiment. I was adamant. To me, the DLI was the Army."

Maj Lawton's first posting was to Cyprus, where he served in a peace-keeping role.

While there, the 1 DLI became the 4 Light Infantry and the old colours were placed in the DLI chapel in Durham Cathedral, after a parade on Palace Green on December 12, 1968. Maj Lawton said: "It was very sad. The DLI and all the territorial battalions had a fantastic wartime record. Durham remains the strongest county recruiting area for the Light Infantry."

It was while jungle training in Malaya in August 1969, that he received news of a posting to the "urban jungle" of Northern Ireland. He was among the first soldiers deployed to the troubled province.

He said: "We were told we had 12 days to prepare for Northern Ireland.

"We arrived so quickly there was no accommodation and we had to sleep in shop doorways at first.

"We became a buffer between Catholics and Protestants. They still lived on the same estates then, but the Catholics were being burned out by Protestant mobs. It was exciting and frightening at the same time. We never knew who our enemies were."

The troops were at first welcomed by the Catholics, but then the political tide turned.

Maj Lawton said: "It went from sticks and stones, to bullets and then to bombs and on to sophisticated bombs and then remote-control bombs."

During several tours over the ensuing two decades, Maj Lawton witnessed the conflict unfold, losing some close friends.

They included Private John Rudman of Hartlepool (shot in ambush), Sergeant Tye Whitelock of Durham (killed by a sniper) and Corporal Tommy Taylor of Sunderland (bomb blast).

Maj Lawton said: "I have been asked about it many times and I have to say it never made me dislike the Irish people. I made some fantastic friends there."

It was with a certain amount of pleasure that Maj Lawton, as quartermaster of the Royal Green Jackets, oversaw the dismantling of the army bases.

Maj Lawton, who has also served in Singapore, Germany, Canada, Kenya and Gibraltar, was awarded a commendation during his first Irish tour and an MBE on completion of his final tour in 2001.

From 2001 to 2004, he was the chief range officer in the Army's largest training area and range complex in Europe, at Senelager, in Germany.

He returned to Durham to finish where he started.

Maj Lawton said: "I will always continue to support the late DLI members and the present and future Light Infantry soldiers as the County Regimental Secretary Light Infantry."

Maj Lawton is married to his wife of 33 years, Teresita. The couple have two sons, Steven, 31, and Michael, 30, and two granddaughters, Heather, nine, and Zoe, seven