who lived in London's West End. The eldest of nine children, Howard's family background was working class. His father worked as a cooper for Courage Brewery after serving in the trenches in France during the First World War, while his mother kept the house and looked after the children. During his formative years, Howard was active member of the Boy Scouts, he also enjoyed attending school and did very well, earning a scholarship to attend secondary school. However, the economic situation at the time was hard and at the age of fourteen he began full-time work, working as a clerk at a broker's firm. In order to further his education he took evening classes and continued with the Scouts. In 1931, however, he found himself out of work, after the brokerage firm that he was working for went out of business. In 1932, Howard enlisted into the British Army and undertook recruit training at Shrewsbury and was assigned to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI). He excelled at physical training and did consistently well on army exams. He became a company clerk and later a physical training instructor. On the basis of his education he applied for a commission as an officer but was rejected, although he was promoted to corporal. In June 1938, he was discharged from the Army, having served his six-year enlistment period, and joined the Oxford City Police. On 28 October 1939 he married Joy Bromley - whom he had met in 1936 - and with whom he would later have two children, Terry and Penny. On 2 December 1939, nearly three months since the outbreak of the Second World War, he rejoined the KSLI as a corporal. He was, however, quickly promoted to Company sergeant major and within five months of joining was the Regimental sergeant major of the battalion. Offered the opportunity of a commission he went to 166th Officer Cadet Training Unit in mid-1940. On graduation he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Ox & Bucks) on 9 November 1940. He rose to captain commanding a company for over a year. When the battalion was marked for conversion to airborne in early 1942, Howard volunteered, accepting demotion to 2nd lieutenant and command of a platoon. He was subsequently promoted, becoming a major in May 1942 and became company commander of 'D' Company which he