John Senior
Major (Ret) John Wilson Senior, MBE, TD, VR, mobilised on 27 December 2001, Senior was the first member of the British Territorial Army to be deployed on operational service to Afghanistan (post 11 September 2001). He is also the founder of Heroes Welcome UK, a national scheme to encourage local communities to show their open support to British and other UK-based military personnel. Personal life Senior was born in 1960 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire and educated at Bilton Grange, Millfield and Menlo College, San Francisco. In 1963 the Senior family survived the Lakonia disaster, on the evening of 22 December, the Greek cruise liner TSMS Lakonia (formerly the Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt ‘JVO’) caught fire and was abandoned in mid Atlantic (later sinking under tow to Gibraltar), of the 1022 souls on board, 95 passengers and 33 crew members lost their lives, many due to the swamping of the ship's life boats. At the subsequent Board of Inquiry the Lakonia's seaworthiness and the behaviour of the Captain and crew were severely criticised, leading to criminal charges being brought. As a result of the disaster a thorough review of maritime safety law was undertaken leading to significant changes in the rules allowing