The Korean War (50-53) had just ended where over a thousand British Army personnel were killed, The Malayan “Emergency” was ongoing from 1948-1960 and cost us 1443 military lives (the largest losses since WWII) and in the Cyprus “Emergency”,1955-60, 371 British soldiers died. There were also Military operations in Kenya, 1952-60, during the Mau Mau uprising. The short lived Suez crisis in 1956.
National Service started in 1949,initially for a period of 18 months service but soon increased to 2 years, and ended in 1960 though periods of deferred service meant that the last National Servicemen were discharged in 1963.
All eligible,fit men,aged 17-21 had to serve in one of the armed forces. On completion they remained on the reserve list for a further 4 years.
So where you were sent was a bit of a lottery. My dad was fairly lucky in Libya 53-55. Some other places at the time were far more dangerous!