Mr Peel recalls National service days

To complicate matters still further, while John was in basic training, his commanding officer happened to be going out with his stepsister (his parents having divorced when he was about sixteen and settled down in new circumstances): 'He was enough of a prick that when I met him at home I was obliged to call him "sir",' he fumed in later life. 'I've often hoped that one of these days I'll find him in flames at the side of the road, begging me to piss on it to put it out, and I shall say, "No, no. You carry on," and pass by on the other side.' - from 'A life in music.'