"Somebody mentioned that Bill Clifton lived in the UK for some years. I didn't know that - presumably why he appearred at Surbiton so often - but I would guess it was draft-dodging from the Vietnam war. That was certainly the reason why Keith Nelson (the banjo player) was over here..."

Wrong.

Bill Clifton was an officer in the US Marine Corps in the mid 1950s (he was born in 1931) and was always available if asked to serve again.