ROYAL Marine recruit Keith Armstrong, 22, of Darwen, fought long and hard in his battle to achieve his greatest ambition.

It took years of trying, three operations on his nose, and then seven months of training, but all his efforts paid off when he finally passed out as a Marine, and received the coveted green beret.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.