Bournemouth Daily Echo, Wednesday 13th November, 2002
Wounded in both legs and his head, he survived to be able to regale over the years his wife, Virginia, two daughters and seven grandchildren with the horrors of frontline combat.
Unfortunately, heroism on this scale usually comes with a price. Alan's case is no exception. The nightmares of being pounded by the Germans' big anti-tank guns and catapulted into the air so many times have taken their toll. This time of year - around Remembrance Day - is particularly distressing for him.
The Fourways Day Centre in Constitution Hill, Poole, is his refuge from such mental haunting.
But with the centre in danger of being closed by Poole council to cut costs, Alan, 78, is fearful of the future.
"If the centre does close, it will be absolutely disastrous for me because it really is my lifeline," said Alan, who lives with his 72-year-old wife in Potters Way, Poole.
"It's as important for my wife as it is for me. She needs respite from my depression and moans."
Alan was a mere 19-year-old when he was despatched to Tripoli in North Africa and then France with the legendary 23rd Hussars.
Back in civvy street, be became a mining engineer and was able to lead a fairly normal life, putting the harrowing memories behind him. It was after retiring that his past caught up with him in the shape of a mental timebomb.
"I thought it was all out of my system, but it was lying dormant in my head, just waiting to surface the moment I had time on my hands to think. Fourways gives me the chance to think about other things and other people," said Alan.
"When other people have terrifying nightmares, they wake up and are thankful that it was only a dream. Then they turn over and go back to sleep.
"But when I wake in a sweat, the nightmare is real life. It's what really happened to me. That's the difference."
For a time after retirement, Alan was a patient at St Anne's Hospital, where post-traumatic stress was diagnosed. Ever since, he has been treated for severe depression.
"Nowadays I'd have been counselled if I'd suffered my injuries today, but there was no such thing as that all those years ago. It was a case of 'pull yourself together, lad, and get on with it like a man!' "
He used to attend the Brownsea Day Centre, next door to Fourways, which catered specifically for people with mental disorders. But Brownsea was closed earlier this year in yet another cost-cutting exercise.
This has meant that people with emotional disorders have been mixed with those suffering from physical conditions.
"The mix doesn't really work, but it's better than nothing," said Alan. "It's a lot better than nothing - which seems most likely what we're going to get."
Bournemouth Daily Echo, Wednesday 13th November, 2002