The old guard passes : July - December 2023

We mark the passing of those who have served this country. Contributions from comrades and families welcome. Contact curator This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ALSTON-ROBERTS-WEST Lt Col George Arthur Alston-Roberts-West CVO died 16 July 23

ARTHUR Lt Gen Sir Norman Arthur KCB, CVO died 18 Dec 23 aged 92

ASHLEIGH Sgt Frank Ashleigh 23 Dec 1924 - 18 June 23 youngest glider pilot Op Market Garden. "Death march" from Stalag Luft VII Liberated by Russians

AUSTEN Lt Cdr Francis Henry Inskip Austen died 22 Nov 23 aged 99

AVENS Lt Col William Richard Avens died 10 Dec 23

BLACKLOCK Lt Cdr Michale Blacklock died 9 Oct 23 aged 95 Royal Scots Greys

BOAM Maj Gen Thomas Anthony Boam died 20 Nov 23 aged 91

BULSTRODE Dr Christopher John Kent Bulstrode CBE 5 Jan 1951- 7 Dec 23 Oldest officer trainee at Sandhurst. Volunteered as trauma surgeon Camp Bastion, Afghanistan then in refugee camps Helmand

BURN Sgt Lawrence  Andrew Burn 4 May 1924 - 5 Dec 23 13th/18th Royal Hussars. Last regtl survivor D-Day landings (Sherman) to Harz Mountains

BURTON Wing Cdr Philip Burton AFC MBE died Sept 23

BUTCHARD Captain John Bryan Butchard RN 25 March 1919 - 8 Oct 23 HMS Volunteer France and Norway HMS Vimy Rammed U-162 MiD U-187 abandoned boat. HMS Magpie 2i/c U-264 sunk "nd Escort Group sank 16 U-boats. POstwar HMS Diadem

CHAPMAN George Chapman OBE 1925 - 29 Oct 23 aged 98. Home Guard. Regular Army 1942 Arakan, N Burma

CHATER Brig James (Jimmy) Kentish Chater died 4 July 23 aged 88

CHURCHER Leading Patrolman Lawrence Stanley Churcher 12 August 1920 - 10 August 2023. Last surviving mmeber of Royal Navy to take part in Op Dynamo Dunkirk evacuation. Joined RN on 18th borthday. HMS Eagle, landed on Dunkirk beaches to supply ammunition. Then back as small boat crew. Mediterranean. HMS Wager Op Neptune (D Day). British Pacific Fleet wounded. French Legion d'Honneur

CLIFF Wg Cdr Patrick Cliff OBE died 19 Oct 23 aged 88

De BURGH Lt Michael de Burgh 11 June 1923 - 21 July 23 "The last lancer" of WWII. 9th Queen's Royal Lancers Tank troop cdrTunisia, Sicily, Italy (Gustav Line) Monte San Savino Wounded on the Po

DURRANT Brig Geoffrey Robert Durrant CBE 24 May 1932- 11 May 23 Army vetinary surgeon. Kenya and police dogs in Pacific. With 22 SAS Oman. Hong Kong. N Ireland. BAOR

FLEMING Brigadier Bryan Fleming MBE died 28 Sept 23 aged 84

FULLER Cdr Malcolm John Fuller died 19 Sept 23

GAUTIER Leon Charles AlexandreGautier Medaille Militaire 27 Oct 22 - 3 July 23 Free French Navy then Commando "Kiefers Commando" Sword Beach D-Day under Lord Lovatt - only formed French body to land that day. Normandy breakout then injured

GILHAM Lt Col Malcolm Gilham 1934 - November 2023 2nd Bn Queen's Regt Gibralter, Singapore, Cyprus, Jordan/Suez, Northern Ireland (pioneered see thru tall riot shield) Germany, Belize. Later over 80s world squash champion

GILLESPIE Major Colin Leonard Beauchamp Gillespie MBE, MiD 10 May 195 - 19 June 23 Royal Engineers, Italian campaign. Palestine. Hong Kong. India. Singapore. Malaya (B Sqn Malayan Scouts reraised SAS) HQ East Africa Command Kenya Cyprus peacekeeping 3rd Divn RE regt (2ic) Joint Warfare Establishment "black ops"

GLAISTER DrDavid Glaister later Professor ex RAF Medical died 3 Oct 2023 aged 89

GODERSON John Goderson died 2 Oct 23 aged 103. Survived Lancastria sinking. Army. Monte Casino

GOUGH Major John McKinley Gough died 26 July 2023. Parachute Regt. Olympian

GRAHAME Major Iain Grahame 1 july 1932 - 4 Sep 23 National Service 60th Rifles. Germany. King's African Rifles Uganda anti Mau Mau

HAINES Carl Edward Haines 23 March 1931 - 1 June 2023 Fleet Air Arm pilot 175 missions around Korea 804 Sqn HMS Glory and 802 Sqn HMS Ocean Sea Furies.inc prop v 8 Migs dogfight Career 1473 flying hours 332 deck landings

HALL Alec Hall 3 June 1922 - 16 Oct 2023 Medical orderly 1st Airlanding Light Regt RA. North Africa, Sicily, Italy Op Market Garden Arnhem. Remained with casualties Stalag VII-B. Liberated in time for D Day parade

HEDGES Major Dr Kenneth Hedges 17 January 1935 - 11 October 2023 RAMC SAS regimental medical officer Borneo, Yemen E Africa, Libya Germany, Netehrlands, Norway, N Ireland MiD. First to reach North Pole and return on foot.Polar Medal. Canadian military reservist. Cdr Order of St John

HORD Lt Col Malcolm Hord dies 12 Nov 23 aged 85 RHA

HUGILL (nee Browne) Third Officer Fanny Tudor Imogen Gore Browne (later Hugill) 22 Jan 1923 - 28 Sept 2023 WRNS staff of Admiral Ramsay Channel defence and Op Overlord.

HUME Brig Dick Hume died 13 Dec 23 aged 89 Irish Guards

JAMIESON Gordon Leslie 14 June 1921 - 23 Sept 23 2/26th Australian Infantry Brigade Captured in Singapore. Changi Burma Railway hen Changi again

JENKINS Major Peter Gordon Jenkins died 4 Sept 23 aged 92. 204 (Tyneside Scottish) Battery RA

JONES Wg Cdr David Robert Jones died 13 Oct 23 aged 85

LATOUR (later Doyle) Sectrion Officer Pippa (Phyllis) Ada Latour MBE 8 April 1921 - 7 Oct 23. WRNS secretarial WAAF mechanic F Section SOE radio operator "Scientist" circuit Northern France May - October1944 135 messages sent back Chevalier Legion d' Honeur

LEAN CDr Laura Lean 22 Oct 1974 - 26 Sept 23 FANY volunteer Parachuting Officer. London Bridge attacks. Grenfell Tower fire. 

MCCRUM Captain Tony McCrum RN died aged 104

MACEY AVM Eric H Macey OBE died 27 Aug 23 aged 87

MAGUIRE Leslie Charles Maguire RN 27 Dec 1941 - 25 Nov 23 Falklands (previously keyboard player Gerry and the Pacemakers)

WALLACE Major Richrad Cecil Wallace died 5 Dec 2023 aged 91

MARSHALL (later Sir) Peter Harold Reginald Marshall KCMG, CVO Wartime RAF navigator inc Liberators. Later British Ambassador to the United Nations

MASON AVM Richard Anthony (Tony) Mason CB, CBE died 12 November 2023

MAXWELL Roy Maxwell 1922-2023 5th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, 4 Cdo. Sword Beach 0800 D-Day under Lord Lovatt. Nov 44 assault on Walcheren island Netherlands where given a bible by local family (returned 2009) French Legion d'Honneur

MAYNARD (later PONSONBY) Anne Veronica Theresa Maynard 23 December 1924 - 3 October 2023 FANY/WTS SOE coder and telegraphis. Legion d'Honneur Later SIS/MI6. Daughter co-founded Help for Heroes

MENZIES Lt Col Norman Edward Menzies MBE 2 Sept 1939 - 12 Aug 23 Parachute Regt 3 Para M East. Falklands (logistics - Norman the Storeman) N Ireland (x3) Commissioned aged 37

MULLINS Major (later Rev) Joe Mullins MC 16 July 1920 - 2 Dec 23 1st Bn Queen's Royal Regt (West Surreys) India, Burma Immediate MC after attack on Japanese position near Pegu-Martaban railway

OXLEY Major Nigel Francis Malcolm Oxley died 14 July 23 Gordon Highlanders

PITMAN Lt Col John Hugh Pitman OBE died 11 Oct 23 aged 88

PRICE Dr Major Edgar Charles Vincent Price TD died 14 Oct 23 2nd Bn Yorkshire Volunteers

RAY Lt Col James Bryant Ray died 4 Sept 2023 aged 94

REED Lt Robert John Reed RN died 26 July 2023 aged 82

RENOUF Dr Surgeon Lt Sdrian Charles Dominic Ranouf died 11 Oct 23 aged 68

ROCHE Major William Harold "Bill" Royal Iniskilling Fusiliers died 29 Oct 23 aged 94

ROEBUCK Roy Delville Roebuck 25 Sept 1929 - 17 Dec 23 National Service RAF wireless operator Ceylon. Later MP

SADLER Michael Sadler MC, MM Long Range Desert Group. Honourary original SAS member. Later M!6, explorer According to a personal obituary oublished on LinkedIn: Sadler was unique, an expert navigator whose skill and temperament formed the bond between L Detachment SAS and the LRDG. Without him the SAS would have struggled to survive during their early days. He was able to put them on top of airfields, hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles beyond enemy lines, in the dark and dead of night. Later on he joined the SAS, commissioned (although Stirling never completed the paperwork, causing Sadler to be arrested for impersonating an officer) and joined the intelligence section for the invasion of France.

SARGEANT Flt Sgt Charles James Sargeant DFM, Legion d'Honneur 16 January 1925 - 13 Nov 23. 115 Sqn Lancasters 7 Sqn Pathfinder rear gunner "tail end Charlie" - 56 missions over NW Europe Op Manna Postwar Iraq, India, Italy

SHERVAL Rear Adm David Sherval CB died 11 Nov 23 aged 90

SLOANE Col Christopher Richard Joseph OBE died 12 Oct 23 aged 64 Royal Engineers

STEWART Lt Col Simon Marcus Perrin Stewart OBE QDG died 20 Sept 23 aged 75

STEWART Sergeant Rena Williamson Robertson Stewart17 Feb 1923 - 11 November 23 ATS. Bletchley Park - German Book Room later Bad Nenndorf PoW translating- inc Hitler's personal will. BBC World Service

TEMPLER Maj Gen James Robert Templer CB, OBE died 14 Dec 23 aged 87 Royal Artillery, equestrian (Olympian, European champion) Asst Chief of Defence Staff

TOMS Col Edward Toms 10 Dec 1920 -17 August 2023 2nd Royal Tank Regt, Western Desert (1st & 2nd Alamein) commissioned into Seaforth Highlanders; Anzio; Raiding Support Regt (SF) Italy, Albania; Seaforths to Belgium' Op Plunder; Force 136 Indonesia Far East HQ, later c/o Gordon Highlanders TA

VENABLES Captain Roger Venables RN died 31 Oct 23 aged 88 Submariner

WALKER Genral Sir Anthony Walker KCB 16 May 1934 - 13 Oct 23 2RTR BAOR Libya 2nd Ghana Recce Sqn Congo, Hong Kong, i/c 1RTR, N Ireland, Cyprus, DCDS (Commitments) Commandant RCDS

WALLS Major James Frances Walls died 18th July 2023 aged 89. 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars

WELSH WO2 Andrew Robb Welsh 27 November 1941 - 13 April 23 Parachute Regt Persian Gulf, Cyprus, Yemen, Aden "Sgt O" 1 Para Londonderry. "Bloody Sunday" where he maintained he killed 2 gunmen and wounded a third. Saville Inquiry rejected this. Awarded MM for service in N Ireland

WHYNTIE Cdre Adrian Whyntie died 21 Nov 23

His friend and colleague at QinetiQRon Finlayson writes 
Commodore Adrian Whyntie was of the generation of Weapon Engineers who oversaw the
transition of the Fleet from analogue to digital systems. With an instinctive grasp of technology and
its potential, he was able both to grapple with today's issues and to anticipate those of tomorrow.
His first seagoing appointment in 1982 was in HMS AURORA, an Ikara Leander fitted with the
ADAWS digital command system. It was during this appointment and subsequently at the Admiralty
Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland that he started to focus on improving weapon
system accuracy, questioning the algorithms that seemed to cause errors in these early systems. In
later years he developed this thinking to tackle accuracy problems faced by task groups exchanging
data between units far apart.
Adrian Whyntie spent most of his childhood in Norfolk where his father was a vicar. He trained with
the Post Office as a telephone technician before studying electrical and electronic engineering at
Loughborough University. He joined the Royal Navy in 1977, spending sea appointments in HMS
AURORA, HMS PHOEBE and HMS GRAFTON, the last during build at Yarrows and first commission.
Ashore his appointments spanned both engineering and personnel management. The former
included a spell as Weapon System Manager for Type 23 frigates where he was able to implement
his ideas for improving combat system accuracy. On promotion to Captain he led a complex
programme procuring a system from the US during which he built strong relationships with his US
counterparts who held him in high regard both technically and as a project manager.
Adrian's first personnel appointment was to BRNC Dartmouth as University Liaison Officer for
officers undergoing degree studies at UK universities This was followed by two years as the
appointer for junior WE officers. In this role he built a strong rapport with the members of his "plot"
and retained contact with many of them throughout their careers. He was a committed and
accomplished mentor, offering his own time to provide guidance whenever and wherever it would
be helpful. There are many officers, serving and retired, who remember his support with warm
affection.
On promotion to Commodore, Adrian was appointed as Technical Director for the Defence
Communications Support Agency, where he applied his technical and management skills to the set-
up of military communications networks in Afghanistan. This was a tri-service appointment for
which he benefited from attendance at the Joint Service Defence College some years earlier.
On retirement from the Navy, Adrian joined the defence technology firm QinetiQ

WILFORD Colonel Derek Wilford OBE 16 Feb 1933 - 24 Nov 23 . National SErvice, Royal Lincolns. SAS Far East 2nd Inf Bgde, 2PARA, C/o 1 Para N Ireland Bloody Sunday Nigeria, SHAPE

WRIGHT Lt Cdr Richard Wright died 4 Dec 23 aged 92. Queen's Messenger

ZURAKOWSKI Stanislaw Zurakowski 24 July 1920 - 27 Jul 23 Polish war infantryman. Father murdered by Russia in Katyn Forest. Forced labour Archangel. Palestine II Polish Corps under Gen Anders. Monte Cassino. Gustav Line, Gothic Line Exile in UK Hon Lt Col at age of 100