Teenager Chris Betts has dreamed of becoming a Grenadier Guard ever since he was an eight-year-old boy proudly watching his uncle march in a parade.

Now, eight years on, his wish has come true and he will be sworn into the Army later this month. The 16-year-old, of Bellevue Street, Woodcross, Wolverhampton, has even convinced four of his friends to sign up.

Chris will begin his year-long training at Harrowgate Army Foundation College on September 9, one day after his 17th birthday.

His uncle, Lance Corporal Matthew Betts, has been serving in Afghanistan for four months but is said to be extremely proud of his nephew.

“I have never wanted to do anything else,” said Chris today. “I just can’t explain it. My Uncle Matthew has always been my inspiration but I want to do this for myself.”

Read the full story in the Express & Star. 

Teenager Chris Betts has dreamed of becoming a Grenadier Guard ever since he was an eight-year-old boy proudly watching his uncle march in a parade.

Now, eight years on, his wish has come true and he will be sworn into the Army later this month. The 16-year-old, of Bellevue Street, Woodcross, Wolverhampton, has even convinced four of his friends to sign up.

Chris will begin his year-long training at Harrowgate Army Foundation College on September 9, one day after his 17th birthday.

His uncle, Lance Corporal Matthew Betts, has been serving in Afghanistan for four months but is said to be extremely proud of his nephew.

“I have never wanted to do anything else,” said Chris today. “I just can’t explain it. My Uncle Matthew has always been my inspiration but I want to do this for myself.”

The former Dormston School pupil is one of 21 juniors who will be joining the Army on August 28, which, as the Express & Star reported recently, is the largest number on a single day for years.

Chris said: “I could never have an office job. I want to stay with the Army for the full 22 years and hopefully see the world. I’m not nervous about what the future may hold, I’m just excited.

“I’ve even convinced four of my friends – Steven Thorne, Adam Sullivan, Tom Dyer and James Moore – to become Grenadier Guards.”

After six weeks of basic training at Harrowgate, Chris will be given his regimental beret and move on to infantry and Grenadier training.

His mother Lisa Betts said she had mixed feelings about her son leaving home.

“I suppose you’ve got to let them find their own way,” she said. “But I do have mixed emotions about the whole thing.

“He has never wanted to do anything else and has always looked up to my brother, who has been in the Army now for around 14 years. 

“He’s always loved everything about the Grenadiers – the uniforms, the drumming and everything they stand for.”

Recruitment levels to the Army are up 40 per cent on last year and military chiefs say more people are signing up in the West Midlands than anywhere else in the UK, with Wolverhampton a particular hotspot. 

Sixty-five people have joined up in the city in the past four months alone, compared with 36 in the same period last year.