Two 60-something-year-old veterans from Amesbury will make up half of the sexagenarian quartet who will be riding their Harley-Davidson motorcycles 5,000 miles from Tidworth to Cyprus to raise money for Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes.

Amesbury duo Fred Ball, 66, and Rupert ‘Dusty’ Miller, 63, will join their friends Trevor (Joe) Burden, 60, of Bournemouth, and Alan Sands, 61, of Wickham, for the journey.

All four served in the Royal Hampshire Regiment, nicknamed The Tigers, and have named their trip“Tigers on Tour”.

They will ride from Tidworth Camp to the Dhekelia Station base, in Cyprus, travelling via the Channel Tunnel to mainland Europe, and then passing through Stuttgart, Graz, Sofia, Ankara, and Mersin, in Turkey, before catching the ferry across to Cyprus.

Salisbury Journal: From left to right: Alan Sands, Fred Ball, Dusty Miller, and Trevor (Joe) Burden.From left to right: Alan Sands, Fred Ball, Dusty Miller, and Trevor (Joe) Burden. (Image: Help for Heroes)

The return leg will be the same in reverse, leaving Cyprus on Thursday, June 13, and scheduled to finish at Tidworth Camp around Wednesday, June 19.

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Alan said: “This was about us having the experience of a lifetime; sharing it would be a statement of our friendship and a reminder of the camaraderie of when we served as young men; a time to reminisce and share old stories.

“But it has now become more than that – it’s not just about four veterans. It’s about all the veterans who gave so much for this country. It’s about the loved ones left behind; it’s about the people who still mourn for those who can’t be with us. It’s about those who constantly battle with everyday life; it’s about those who feel left behind.

“We would never leave anyone behind in battle, so why should we leave them behind now? This is still a battlefield for them."