RUSTY Firmin didn’t have an easy start to life in Carlisle.

Born in 1950 and given up at a young age by his parents and farmed out to various relatives across the city, he stood at just 5ft 2in at the age of 15 when he was told – against his wishes – to join the army.

That’s all in stark contrast to the life he has since led. As a soldier, he saw tours of duty in bomb-hit Northern Ireland, saw action in the Falklands Conflict, led an SAS team to lift the Iranian Embassy siege in London from which a film was made, and as a security expert he has guarded, among others, actor Mel Gibson.

“The scruffy little runt who went and joined the army – I have a film from it, a couple of books and my life story,” said Rusty.

He admits that his early days in Carlisle weren’t easy, due to an unsettled upbringing. He was a pupil at the former Harraby secondary school and spent time in various addresses.

“In hindsight, it is easy to look back on the days when it was good, but it was pretty difficult without having a proper life. I have never sent a mother’s day card or a father’s day card in my life,” said Rusty.

“Unfortunately I was just passed around and I was forced into the army at 15 when I didn’t want to go. I wanted to be a footballer. I got my first medals for football as a 15-year-old at Brunton Park.”

After joining the army on September 15, 1965, Rusty admits that he hated the basic training and his early days in the army.

“I was taken down to Carlisle Recruiting Office and the story was born there. The first three months was horrible. Discipline... people shouting at you. If I had been given £50 in 1965 I would have bought myself out of the army,” said Rusty.

“I was a Rolling Stones fan really. When I went there I wasn’t big on discipline. I had long hair when I got there, straight into the barber’s chair, bang and it was gone.”

But things changed when his talent as a footballer was spotted, and he got to play for his regimental team every week.

“I decided I could be a tracksuit soldier if I wanted to. I started enjoying it a bit more. Playing a game of football at the weekends. All of a sudden I was doing what I wanted to do, I was getting paid and playing football.”

Asa member of 49 Field Regiment Royal Artillery, Rusty completed several tours of Northern Ireland - and by that time he was an enthusiastic soldier.

“That for me was soldiering, Not doing drill and stuff. Northern Ireland was the sort of stuff I really wanted to do. At that stage I would have stayed there for a year, not four months,” he said.

“I was involved quite a bit with the bombings in Belfast. You would do ‘strip and search’ where all the bombs were going off at that stage.”

Rusty volunteered to join the 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, and received the coveted Green Beret. Later, he applied to join the SAS and in 1977 was accepted.

He saw service in the Falklands Conflict in 1982 and spent time in the jungle in Belize, but the biggest moment came in the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in London, when terrorists took over the building.

“It wasn’t until the sixth day when they executed a young guy who was a press attache. They shot him three times on the stairs. We were waiting for proof of murder. When they dumped him outside the building, the police went out and picked him up, and it came from the PM Margaret Thatcher that it was then an SAS operation.

“We had 16 minutes to get into the place. Then we had 11 minutes from getting into the building, killing the terrorists, and rescuing the hostages. That is what we went there to do.”

All but one of the terrorists were killed by the SAS, while one of the hostages was killed by the terrorists. The rest were saved.

A film was made about in in 2017 – 6 Days – with actor Jamie Bell playing Rusty, who led one of the two SAS teams into the building.

After his career in the SAS, Rusty spent time as a security consultant.

“I worked with Mel Gibson in Braveheart. That was in the early 90s at Ben Nevis,” said Rusty. “I was trying to keep the paparazzi at bay when they were filming and go walking with his wife and kids to make sure they didn’t get any hassle. That was a bit of fun, he was a nice guy.”

Rusty has written two books about his experiences – Go Go Go about the siege and The Regiment: 15 years in the SAS.

He added: “I found out about my mother really late. I was filming in New Zealand for six days, and she was living a few miles up the road. I was in Auckland. But had I known I would never have gone and seen her. It might have brought a bad memory back.”

Rusty is speaking about his life at Harraby Theatre on March 21. Go to www.harrabycommunitycentre.org.uk/Community-Theatre