This article contains references to military service and armed conflict. We understand that these topics may evoke strong emotions or memories, and encourage readers to proceed with care.
Wales Air Ambulance Trustee Craig Hampton-Stone spent 26 years in the military, followed by a stint in management consultancy, before taking up his present role as the Managing Director of Cardiff Bus. Born in Caerleon, his work has taken him all over the world, but these days home is Garnant.
As President of his local Royal British Legion branch, Craig is busy preparing for Armistice and Remembrance events. He said: “We still have an obligation to remember those who pay the ultimate sacrifice in wars, which have provided us with the freedom and democracy that we have.”
He added: “We have lost so many people in various campaigns and operations over the decades, from World War One and Two, the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan, to present conflicts.
“With my military background, I have a real appreciation of that sense of duty. Sometimes, the commitment it takes to join up is taken for granted, to train and to sacrifice aspects of your life to be part of this.
“That’s why Remembrance is so poignant, a chance for all of us to reflect, whether that’s taking part in a minute’s silence in your home, at a local cenotaph or attending a church service.”
Craig will be attending the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on Saturday 8 November.
On Armistice Day, he will be paying his respects closer to home. At his workplace, where a tree has been planted outside the Cardiff Bus headquarters.
He said: “Over the generations, many of our employees, probably in the thousands, have served in the military and worked for us. So, we will be remembering our colleagues as part of the commemorations.”
Craig went straight from school to Sandhurst at the age of 18 and says he was probably ‘one of the youngest to have gone there’. Most were graduates from university and around 24 years of age.
He looks back at that time with ‘both fear and pride’, admitting it was a ‘challenging and intimidating experience’, but one that propelled him to what followed in his Forces career. He reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, which he says was a ‘real personal achievement.’
He joined the Royal Logistic Corps and served in a variety of different regiments and commanded a Squadron of Gurkhas and the 165 Port and Maritime Regiment.
Craig said: “I trained as an ammunition technical officer, which is basically bomb disposal. Thankfully, I didn’t ever have to participate in that.”
Further promotion followed, from head of recruiting for the Royal Logistic Corps, to an instructor at the Defence Academy, teaching the newly promoted majors. He also went on to work at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall.
He ‘had the privilege of attending the Advanced Command and Staff course’, where he read for a master’s degree at King’s College London.
Craig said: “I did the typical tours in the early 90s in Bosnia and Kosovo. In 2008, I went to Afghanistan, where I was the senior ammunition technical officer. In 2012, Cyprus and a tour with the UN beckoned.”
Most of 2013 was spent in Africa. He said: “Initially, I was in Mali with the French, then deployed to prevent Al Qaeda from advancing down from Algeria.
“We lived in a concrete block on Bamako Airport, eating ration packs for four months, which was a challenge.”
Next, it was Gambia, then on to Kenya, where Craig says ‘nothing’ could have prepared him for what was about to unfold.
He said: “When I was deployed in Mali, we knew we were going into a war zone. We knew how to protect ourselves, what to expect and knew the risks.
“But in Kenya, it was very different. I was working out of the British High Commission.
“So, when I found myself involved in the response to the Al Shabab terrorist attack on the Westgate Shopping Mall, it was one of the worst days of my military career.”
The attack resulted in 71 deaths and approximately 200 people were wounded.
Craig added: “It was a very, very difficult operation. This was not a warzone, but it turned into one. Westgate is an upmarket mall in Nairobi, most of the people there were just going about their day, shopping, meeting family and friends, when the gunmen launched their attack.”
By 2021, Craig was reassessing his life and felt he’d already ‘far exceeded’ his expectations of what he would get out of his military career. Although he could have served on until he was 55, he felt that starting a second career at 45 was a more feasible prospect.
He started shaping his ‘exit strategy’ and part of that was getting involved with Charity work when he was back home in the UK.
Craig said: “I was a governor of a school and became the Chairman of a charity called the Livewell Foundation.
“I was also the Vice Chair of Trustees at Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue.”
After the pandemic hit, he was working from home and says that helped the transition from leaving his regiment and moving into consultancy work with MACE, who are involved with global construction projects.
He says it was just what he needed to help facilitate his ‘soft transition’ from military to civilian life.
Craig describes his time spent working on the refurbishment of Devonport nuclear submarine dockyard as ‘fascinating’. He was also part of the Ministry of Justice Prison Capacity programme.
At this point, both he and his wife Jo were looking to move back home to Wales, and Craig went on to become the Managing Director at Cardiff Bus.
He relinquished all his charitable positions, which included volunteering for the East Cornwall search and rescue team, until he settled into his new role. Within a year, he started looking for a cause which fitted with his values and applied to become a trustee with Wales Air Ambulance.
The evolution of Wales Air Ambulance into a service delivering advanced critical care owes much to the Armed Forces and the pioneering medical care developed and delivered on the front line. Many veterans and current military personnel are employed within the service.
Craig said: “It is such a professional organisation, everyone does their job so well and the team are so passionate about their work.
“It’s all about the team, and that is something I know from the military. It’s about commitment, respect for others, loyalty, integrity, discipline and courage.
“Those values and that culture leans across into Wales Air Ambulance too.”
