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Geoffrey Evans was born on 1st April 1927 and died on 21st July 2012 aged 85. He and his twin brother enlisted into the Army aged 17 and served in Egypt, India and Burma. He was a proud Stafford to his dying day.
22326405 Pte Richard Faulkner of Worcester died on 18th February 2012 aged 80. He joined the 12 Pl D Coy 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment in Malaya in June 1950 and served until 1952. He was wounded whilst
seconded to B Coy near Penang.
Major Charles William Fowler known as Bill died at home on 16th April 2012, aged 87. He served in The South Staffordshire Regiment between 1946–48 and then with the Territorial Battalions until 1970. He knew many people in the Regiment and was an active participant in Regimental events for many years afterwards. His funeral took place at Christ Church in Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton on 24th April 2012.
22582490 Cpl Joe W Gandy of Droitwich, Worcestershire died on 16th April 2012 aged 80. He enlisted into the 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment in 1950 until 1957 and served in Malaya, Bulford and Iserlohn.
Captain J Gash passed away peacefully on 15th January 2012 at Compton Hospice, aged 84 years. He was born
on 7th June 1927 in Brockmoor, Brierley
Hill and attended school at Wednesbury leaving at the age of 14. Jack then attended Dudley College. His first job was making munitions for the Second World War. He joined the Army at the end of WW2 and was commissioned on the 9th November 1946 into The South Staffordshire Regiment. He left the Army in 1948 having reached the rank of Captain. He then joined the Police Force, married Jean in September 1949 and they lived together in Wombourne. In 1954 Jack was promoted to Sergeant and was moved to Smethwick, later he became an Inspector and moved to Willenhall. Eventually he became Chief Inspector
and he moved first to Oldbury, followed
by West Bromwich and finally Brierley
Hill. He retired in 1984. One of his most interesting assignments was the visit of Pope John Paul II to UK in 1982. Jack was Chief Steward of the visiting party and was awarded the Knight Order of Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He was the President of
the National Association of Police for 20 years, the Chairman of the Staffordshire Regimental Association Stourbridge
Branch for many years, and President of the Wolverhampton Circle since 1980. He was also a keen fisherman. His funeral took place at Our Lady of Lourdes, Kingswinford on 3rd February and was very well attended by the Staffordshire Regimental Association and the West Midlands Police Force.
WO2 (RQMS) Philip Gater. The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment.
WO2 Phil Gater served for 22 years mainly 1st Battalion and completed his Regular Army service as RQMS at the School of Infantry in 1984. He then joined the Non Regular Permanent Staff of the TA as part of the project team tasked with the formation of a new TA Battalion, the 3rd Battalion of the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment, serving with them as RQMS until he retired on medical grounds in 1990. Phil Gater died on 4th August 2012, his funeral was attended by many old colleagues from both the 1st and 3rd battalions.
121205 2Lt John ‘Hoppy’ Goatly of Fernhurst, West Sussex died on 31st March 2012 aged 94. He joined the 1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters in February 1940 and went to France via Le Havre as a member of the BEF. He was evacuated through Brest, Brittany. He moved with the Battalion to the Far East and served as the Battalion Intelligence Officer in Singapore. He was wounded in the left lower leg by a bullet at Bukit Timah and was taken prisoner by the Japanese from hospital in February 1942. He was made to work in group 7 at Kanburi until his release in 1945. He was demobilized in 1946 and joined the British Council working in Cairo, Kuching Sarawak, Bombay, Kuala Lumpa, and Ankara until 1978.
Roy Gould from West End, Stoke-on-Trent, died on the 20th November 2011, aged 82.
He served in the Army Cadet Force prior to enlisting and was Drum Major of Stoke Cadets. In those days, the Stoke Cadets were the national champions and won many trophies for their high standards of turnout, drill and performances. He enlisted into The North Staffordshire Regiment and joined
the 1st Battalion in April 1949. During his early days the Drum Major was taken ill
just before an important parade. Despite
his youth and rank, Roy was selected to stand in and he soon became the Drum Major and was reported to be the youngest Drum Major in the British Army at the time. Roy reached the rank of Sergeant and left the Army in 1954. After he left the Army he ran a successful transport business and attended various reunion events. His funeral took place at Carmountside Crematorium, Milton on the 2nd December and a strong Regimental presence attended led by Lt. Col Bridges and Tom Mason. A collection was taken and donated to the Mercian Regiment Benevolent Fund, which was deeply appreciated.
23982884 Cpl Patrick ‘Paddy’ Greenan
of Alcester, Warwickshire died on 19th July 2012 aged 66. He joined the 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment on 6th September 1963 and served in Gibraltar, Tobruk, Cyprus and the UK. He served with 1 WFR and was discharged in May 1971.
Ronald Groome served in 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment in the 1970s
in Dover and Osnabruck. He joined D Coy (later retitled B Coy) and was a rifleman in the Battalion’s tour of Derry in 1974. He later served in the Intelligence Cell and represented his Battalion at football. After he left the Army Ronnie suffered a long and debilitating illness, which lasted for years. He bravely carried on without complaint and kept in touch with friends and visited the Staffordshire Regimental Museum. His wife Linda said that he was grateful for the numerous messages he received in his final weeks. His funeral took place on Thursday 10th May 2012 in Pelsall. Brigadier Graham Coxon led the Stafford mourners, which included Major Glyn Ireland, who played alongside him in the Battalion’s team.
WO2 John Halsall died on 29th September 2012 shortly after his 90th birthday. He enlisted into the LDV as a seventeen year old and then served with 2nd Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment in Tunisia in 1943. He was wounded at Anzio and after six weeks in hospital returned to his Battalion just before the breakout. He was wounded again and returned to his Battalion for the remainder of the war in Italy and rose to become CSM. His funeral took place on 12th October in St.Helens.
Sergeant EJ Hanslow died on
3rd December 2011. We believe that
he joined the Army as a Boy Soldier in
1955 and joined 1st Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment in 1958. He was
a Training NCO at Depot Lichfield from 1960–2 and then rejoined 1 Staffords in 1962 and went out to Kenya with them. He was discharged in 1964 and was one of three brothers serving in the Battalion. After he left the Army he moved to Tamworth and worked for the BBC, was a newsagent and also worked in a job delivering food. His funeral took place at Sutton Crematorium on Tuesday 20th December.
22492447 Cpl Cyril James ‘Ciggy’ Harvey of Rugeley, Staffordshire died on 10th April 2012 aged 79. He joined the 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment on 7 June 1951 serving in Malaya until demobilization on
18th June 1953. He then joined the TA and served with the 6th Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment. At the end of his
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