Page 119 - Mercian Eagle 2012

Army Service he became a coal miner and continued in this profession for 34 years. Cyril was one of five Malayan Veterans who successfully raised funds for a plaque to be placed in Worcester Cathedral, to the memory of the men of the Regiment served in Malaya.
24129277 LCpl Steven Charles Hemmings of Carlton, Nottingham died on 25th November 2011, aged 62. He enlisted into the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters
in 1967 and was a PTI with A Coy. He was discharged from 1WFR in November 1973 whilst the Regiment was in Berlin.
407875 Brig Charles Hince CBE of Throcking, Hertfordshire died on 16 September 2012, aged 82. When Charles was 13 he and his widowed mother fled to Australia from Singapore, a week before it fell to the Japanese in February
1942. He was educated at the Aquinas College, Perth and Xavier College Melbourne and after the war finished, repatriated with his mother to England.
In May 1948 as a National Serviceman
he began his Army career and in August
of that year he went to OCTU as a gunner and was selected for Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Sherwood Foresters in December 1949 and posted to the 1st Battalion in Goslar. Between 1953-54 he served with the Battalion in Egypt and
Libya as Technical Adjutant and a desert navigator. He took up the role of Adjt, 5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters in Derby in 1956 and then in 1958 he deployed with the 1st Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters to Malaya for jungle operations and he then joined HQ 17 Gurkha Division as GS03 Ops/Trg. He returned to UK in 1961 to complete staff training at Camberley and then moved to join AFNORTH NATO in Oslo, as GS02. In 1964 he rejoined the 1st Battalion in Colchester and became A Coy Commander when they were deployed on an emergency tour of Cyprus.
In 1966 he attended the Joint Services Staff Course at Latimer and on completion he became an instructor at the All Arms Tactics Wing, Warminster responsible
for instruction in counter revolutionary warfare and helicopter operations. In 1968 he became a Company Commander 1st Battalion the Staffordshire Regiment
in Berlin, before transferring to the 1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers as CO. He served with the Battalion in Hong Kong
for its 21⁄2 year tour and then deployed
to Londonderry as GS01 Ops/Plans. In 1976-78 he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Exercise and Manoeuvres Branch
at SHAPE and he was also appointed as special personal advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Haig. He played a leading role in the modernization and computerization of the SHAPE War
Headquarters and he was recognized for this by being awarded a CBE in 1966. He returned to Latimer for two years
as Senior Army Director and his last appointment was as Commander 160 (Welsh) Infantry Brigade (TA) in Brecon. On his retirement he became Bursar of St Edmunds College, Ware.
5252486 Pte Reginald George Hodgets MM of Worcester died on 27th October 2011, aged 91. Enlisting into the TA in 1939 he served with the 8th Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment in France during 1940 and was evacuated from
Dunkirk in June. Later he was sent to North Africa to reinforce the 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment and was taken PoW in June 1942 when Tobruk fell. He was transferred to a PoW camp in Italy and absconded after the Italians surrendered in September 1943. He escaped and was recaptured and he then managed to escape again. He received an MM for his courageous escape activities. He later transferred to the RAOC until his demobilization after the war when he became a Postman until he retired aged 61.
Tom Hodgkinson died 22nd February 2012
Geoff Holland died 10th December 2011, aged 74 Ex 7th Battalion Cheshire Regiment 1956–61
Major Peter Hossell died on 29th June 2011, although we did not hear of this
until many months afterwards. He was granted an Emergency Commission in The South Staffordshire Regiment on 1 March 1941. He was promoted to Lieutenant on
1 September 1942 and was a Temporary Captain on 27th October 1943. He was released from the Army in 1946 and settled in Shropshire. We are trying to find out more about his service.
293603 Lt William Anthony Darrel Hoyle of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire died on 15 January 2012. He joined The Sherwood Foresters in 1942 and served in the ranks with both the 1st and 2nd Battalion. He took up a
commission in 1943 with the 1st Battalion and moved to the 14th Battalion in 1944. He spent six months recovering from a wound he received on the Coriano Ridge at San Savino in September 1944 and when eventually released from hospital he was attached to the 2/5th Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment in Austria. In October 1945 he returned to the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters and served in
Germany before being seconded to the Foreign Office’s Intelligence Division. In November 1946 he was demobilised and moved to Cape Town selling Persian carpets door-to-door. He returned to UK in 1956 and worked in marketing management for an electrical appliance manufacturer and ended his career working with Prices Waterhouses’s Management Consultancy in the City of London. In his retirement he was a regular speaker on the Platoon Commander’s Battle Course, Warminster about the Gothic Line battle. His fees from these engagements were donated to the Regimental Fund.
Kenneth Raymond Hunt died on 1st July 2012 aged 92. Kenneth came from Tamworth and served with 6th Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment during WW2 and was with them when they attacked Galamanche – La Bijunde on 8th July 1944 during Operation Charnwood. They were opposed by elements of 12 SS Division and fighting was ferocious. When 59 Division was disbanded after the Orne Crossing operation, he was posted to
5th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment and served with them until the end of the war. He returned to Tamworth after the war and lived with his family. His funeral took place at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium on 18th July and Majors Mike Tarbuck and Jim Massey represented the Regiment, Colour Sergeant Hedges paraded the Regimental Mascot, L/ Cpl Watchman V.
CSgt Geoffrey Mark Hutton of Minard, Argyll died on 12 January 2012 aged 61. He was a founder member of
A Company 3rd Battalion, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters in 1971 and served until
1992. He represented the Battalion for many years at the EDSAAM and TASSAM Bisley. In civilian life he was a mining surveyor from 1968-81 and them a civil engineer with the Forestry Commission until 2007.
Thomas Ickle died 17th January 2012. He was a WW2 veteran and served in Libya, Sicily, Italy and Palestine.
22672858 Cpl Peter Arbon Jeffery of Ilkeston, Derbyshire died on 29th July 2012 aged 78. As a National Serviceman, he joined the 2nd Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters in 1951 and was discharged in 1954. He
then took up employment with the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service and served for 30 years. He became a JP in 1986–2000, was elected Councillor for the
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
117