A FORMER Army Cadet Colonel who will toast the Queen on her Platinum Jubilee says it'll bring back happy memories of taking part in her Coronation as a schoolboy.

Honorary Colonel James Gallacher MBE was a 14-year-old cadet when he was chosen to attend the historic event.

Jim, now 83, remembers it well to this day and revealed how keeping a secret helped him land the role.

He said he was bursting with pride to be selected to attend the Coronation.

James told the Telegraph: "It was amazing - I treated it as a great honour.

"I was chosen for being the best cadet in my unit.

"I remember going on the train from Glasgow to London.

"I had told a fib to get into the army cadets - I was only 12 when I joined in 1951 and you were meant to be 14.

"So I went to the Coronation two years after I joined."

"Even then at that age, I realised the significance and I knew I was witnessing history."

He and his fellow cadets from Renfrewshire Cadet B Company boarded the Coronation Scot at 8.37am in the morning of May 25.

He and his fellow cadets had a spot at the Queen Victoria memorial opposite Buckingham Palace.

Jim said: "It was wonderful, I remember we slept in sleeping bags on straw beds on the floor of a barracks somewhere.

"There was a tremendous atmosphere - the forces marching out the barracks , the bands playing with them, pipers and all the noise.

"The palace was on the right hand side - I saw the Queen going to get crowned in Westminster Abbey and coming back in her carriage."

Jim says the Platinum Jubilee will feel like a full circle moment for him, having being there at the start of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

He said: "I think it is wonderful that the Queen has reigned all that time, she has been so loyal to the country and took an oath to fulfil her duty.

"I think she is marvellous and quite a remarkable lady."

Jim received an MBE for 50 years of service to the Army Cadets in 2005.

He rose through the ranks, becoming a commissioned officer then rising to deputy commandant and retiring as honorary colonel aged 70.

Jim was also the chairman of the Inverclyde branch of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, based in Port Glasgow, and didn’t forget cadets in his role as patron until ill health forced him to retire and let younger colleagues take over.

He achieved so much in his career, including modernising the army cadets by pioneering the first girl detachment in Renfrewshire.

Jim has been married to Irene, a retired nurse, for 43 years and they live in Langbank.

They have a son Alastair who has additional support needs and lives in residential care in North Ayrshire.

Irene, who has kept a book of cuttings, photographs and certificates documenting Jim's career, said: "Alastair's so proud of his dad and I'm in awe of Jim's career in the Army Cadet Force.

"He had two careers, his army career man and boy and as a professional sales executive."

The couple met The Queen at Stirling Castle in 2007 when she marked her 60 years as Colonel-in-Chief of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regiment.

Jim has inspired so many young people through the years and people still stop him in the street to greet him.

He said: "I was on the Esplanade recently when a man approached me and called me Colonel.

"He said if it hadn't been for me, he wouldn't be where he is today now having a successful career.

"It's nice to be appreciated."

Irene added: "The army cadet motto is inspire to achieve and Jim was inspired when he joined and went on to achieve a great deal."