A former RUC officer has collated an anthology of short personal stories featuring the highs and lows of life in the police whilst stationed in Fermanagh during The Troubles.

In 'Crime, Comedy & Combat' William Clegg gives his readers an insight into life in the RUC.

Originally from Co. Down, William explained that a lot of the book is set in Fermanagh, where he was stationed in Rosslea, Belleek, St. Angelo and Enniskillen as an RUC officer during The Troubles.

"My formative years, certainly the first 10 years were in Fermanagh where I worked in different ranks before I left," said William, going on to explain that after getting an injury, he retired in his thirties.

Now based in his home county of Co. Down, but working further afield as a diving instructor in the likes of Bali, William is far away from his RUC days stationed in Fermanagh. Yet, with this collection of his own personal memoirs, William recalls the characters he met and the tragedies he experienced as a young officer as if it was yesterday, as is the quality of detail he provides.

William uses humour within his storytelling, turning what could have been a very heavy book due to some of its harrowing subject matter, into a much lighter read.

However, most importantly, he gives a first hand account of his time in the RUC, an honest view of the good, the bad and the ugly of Northern Ireland's darkest days.

Talking about why he decided to write the book, William explained that he wanted to keep his memories alive for his son.

He said: "I wrote it for my son basically, because there were a lot of stories that I had and over the years these stories get forgotten about.

"You start to wonder, 'where do all these memories go'.

"[My son is] only 12 and I was nearly 50 before he was born so about three years ago I started jotting [down my stories]," said William, noting that for him writing helped him relax: "I was doing it because I wanted to do it, it was a hobby, it was fun to do."

Over three years, William jotted down his personal anecdotes from his time in the RUC along with other personal life experiences. This resulted in three or four handwritten manuscripts.

With the help of a virtual secretary, Sandra Parry, William typed up a hard copy, which together they refined and added photographs, resulting in a first draft of what would eventually become his debut book, thanks to Belfast publisher Excalibur Press.

Noting that 'Crime, Comedy & Combat' is not a novel, William explained: "It’s more a series of stories or vignettes placed together under certain titles.

"You can pick it up and read any story anywhere as they are all self-contained."

He went on to outline some of the titles of the different sections: “There’s a section 'Myths and Legends', these are characters that left an indelible mark on me from my early years right through my whole time in the police.

"Then there’s a section called the 'Farce Side', and those are a series of funny stories.

At the end of the book there is a roll of honour.

“It contains about 300 nicknames awarded in the line of duty,” laughed William.

As aptly described by one reader's review which is posted under the book's listing on Amazon, the book is "a personal collection of short stories which reflect a true grit approach to survival from a man who has obviously seen and been through more than most of us".