Mr Blandford, the delightful chap who owned the ironmongery in Ilminster, which was one of those old 'sell everything' places with a wooden floor and smelt of creosote, would address anyone who'd been in the Armed Forces using their rank title, no matter whether they liked it or not! But that was in the '50s, when small town life was rather different and most people in their thirties had probably served during the war.