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Five relatives (2 great-grandfathers and 3 of their brothers) fought in the First World War. Two were killed, one wounded, another deserted, married a French woman and moved to Canada, and the fifth came away more or less intact. Quite a story behind the deserter, but I'll leave that for another day.
Four (1 grandfather, 1 grandmother and 2 uncles) served in the Second World War. My grandfather was with the BEF and returned to France on D-Day. One uncle was lightly wounded in an air-raid while on leave. My grandmother was in the WAAF and her brother fought in North Africa.
One of my WW2 uncles also fought in Korea.
My brother fought in the Falklands, though you wouldn't know it if you knew him now. He also went to Northern Ireland a few times.
Speaking of Northern Ireland, my best friend from school was killed in South Armagh in 1988.
We have a few ancestors who served during the 19th Century in various places and capacities, and We know of one relative who served under Clive of India in the mid-Eighteenth Century.
Most of them were infantrymen, probably because they were too working class for the RAF and the fear of buggery kept them out of the navy. Or so the family joke goes.
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