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THE ORIGINAL 'FULL MONTY'

As the Second World War drew to a close and the Allies closed in on Hitler, Field Marshal Montgomery saw the need for a magazine as a popular means of keeping the huge British Liberation Army informed.

The idea was to brief his troops about what was going on at home and in the other theatres of war - and to give them a "voice". So, in March 1945, the first issue of Soldier rolled off the presses in Brussels.

In it , Monty sent greetings to comrades in Africa, Italy, India and Burma as well to those in other fighting services, adding: "I have often wished 'good luck' to soldiers. I do so now to Soldier."

His words worked like magic, and almost 60 years later the publication, with a print-run of 90,000, is as popular as ever. Twice in recent years it has been voted the best internal magazine in Britain.

WE COVER THE WORLD

In its early days Soldier was based on popular magazines of the day such as Picture Post and Illustrated and was staffed by Fleet Street journalists serving in the wartime Army.

As the Allies advanced through Germany, editions of Soldier were printed in Hamburg on captured presses which once produced Goebbels's propaganda sheet, Signal.

In intervening years staff writers and photographers have covered most of the post-war conflicts, notably the Falklands and Gulf Wars.

Typewriters have given way to computers, while film has been overtaken by digital camera technology.

Today, the magazine continues to cover the globe in more ways than one-serving a worldwide readership by reporting the Army's activities wherever it may be.