THE Irish Guards is to welcome the tallest recruit of its 362-year history next week.
At 7ft 3ins, Martyn Walters from Birmingham is too tall to fit in the sentry boxes outside royal palaces when he wears his bearskin and will have to be replaced by a shorter soldier when it rains.
Wellington Barracks, in London, has also had to order a bigger uniform and a larger bed for him.
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Becoming an Irish Guard is a lifelong ambition for Martyn, 21.
“I saw a Guard on the news when I was 13 years old and I remember giving my mother a tap and saying, ‘Mummy, Mummy, I am going to be one of those’ and now here I am, exactly where I wanted to be,” Martyn said. “I am living my childhood dream.”
Martyn, who used to be a pallet stacker, has befriended Matthew Else, 25, who at 5ft 2ins is the smallest soldier in the Guards.
Their company commander, Major Alun Powell, said: “Height or whatever is never an issue. It does not make any difference as long as soldiers are fit to do the job.”