Former Kennet pupil appointed OBE for foreign security work

A COLD Ash man has been appointed an OBE for services to international security.

Henry Bolton, aged 49, grew up in Cold Ash and went to Kennet School, Thatcham.

The honour was awarded by The Diplomatic Service and Overseas List, part of the Queen’s New Year Honours, and Mr Bolton will attend Buckingham Palace on March 12, his 50th birthday.

Mr Bolton has just returned from his latest tour of Afghanistan, where he was charged with trying to make sure that the country is in a stable position and ready for when the troops withdraw.

A former Thames Valley policeman, Mr Bolton is serving jointly with the MOD, the foreign office and the department for international development in other countries, and has previously worked in Serbia and Kosovo.

His mother, Sheila Bolton, said that he had always been interested in security issues and as a boy, aged just 14 or 15, he managed to call The White House from a telephone box in Thatcham town centre in an attempt to speak to the US president about missiles at Greenham, although he did not get put through to Jimmy Carter.

Mrs Bolton, of Hatchgate Close, Cold Ash, said: “His father died when he was 16 or 17 and he would have been absolutely thrilled.

“He also had a great uncle who was in the First World War and who got all kinds of medals. Henry always thought of him as a role model so he would have been pleased too.

“He has done things that no-one else in their right mind would have done. “We are very proud of him.”