I Can't Stand for the Ceremony

This book is about an eighteen-year-old going into the army to do National Service. He is yearning to be a Grenadier Guard who does guard duties outside Buckingham Palace and various other places.

The story takes the reader through his training at Caterham Barracks Surrey in 1953. After he completes his service (he signed on for a further nineteen years), he takes employment as a chauffeur. He works for a company that deals with mostly American tourists, and he meets the love of his life, Corrie. She often stays at the Savoy Hotel.

After a time, Corrie often visits him and she decides they should get married in America and live in her large house. Unfortunately Tom starts to have problems with walking, and it is discovered that he has a cyst wrapped around his spinal cord, which eventually renders him paraplegic. He spends a year in the hospital, and Corrie is a regular visitor.

What will happen to Tom and Corrie? Read I Can't Stand for the Ceremony to find out.