To put it bluntly, the military uniform once so proudly worn by Captain Ian Hamilton no longer fits. It is packed away, out of sight, in a wardrobe, along with the paratrooper's red beret, and the medals of service which document how he served in every major conflict of the past 20 years. Why he can no longer wear it - and, moreover, who is to blame for that fact - is a matter of much controversy.
At the most basic level, it doesn't fit because he is no longer Captain Ian Hamilton, but now goes by the name of Jan. His once-rugged 16-stone body, with its famed 14-inch biceps, is no more, replaced - after a sex change operation - by a surgically created feminine physique.
More contentiously, Captain Hamilton is no longer entitled to wear the uniform, or even a scaled-down version of it. Fifteen months ago, when he informed the Army that he was now living as a woman, and would like to be known henceforth as Jan, his Army career effectively came to an end.
Poised to accept a posting to Gibraltar, as a media relations manager within the British Army, he wrote to his commanding officer with legal documentation detailing the sex change. The Army's response was an order to attend a medical examination - as a man. When Jan refused, the job offer was revoked, and his career in the Army was over.
Poised to accept a posting to Gibraltar, as a media relations manager within the British Army, he wrote to his commanding officer with legal documentation detailing the sex change. The Army's response was an order to attend a medical examination - as a man. When Jan refused, the job offer was revoked, and his career in the Army was over. 
A baffling - and, admittedly, eyebrow-raising - turn of events, one might conclude. How odd that a man who wanted to be a woman with such passion should sign himself up to the Parachute Regiment, that most macho of institutions. But such things happen. Yet, the matter didn't end there.
Captain Hamilton - by now officially a woman - took things further, claiming sex discrimination. And she has won her case. This week, it emerged that Jan, 43, is set to receive a huge settlement as compensation for her loss of earnings, lost pension and what in this enlightened age we must refer to as 'hurt feelings'.
Although the employment tribunal dealing with the case has yet to finalise the figure, it is rumoured that it will top £250,000. Whatever, it will almost certainly dwarf those payments which have to date been awarded to wounded war heroes.
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