A ROYAL duke who served 21 years in the Royal Navy retired at 41 on a £22,000 small pension.

I served 32 years on the railway including two years’ press-ganged conscripted service in the Royal Navy.

At 23 I was driving steam express boat trains with up to 1,000 passengers with their lives in my hands.

My pension is £1,200 a year.

Brian Vincent

St Helens Green,

Harwich