Page 173 - Mind, Body & Spirit Number 104 2020/21

171
Ex SMI Don Paterson passed away in his hometown of Blackburn in July 2020 after a long illness. Don joined the Royal Engineers in January 1953, transferred into the
Corps in April 1954, and left the Army in September 1975. He met and married Marianne on 19 March 1955, while posted to the depot of ‘The Buffs’ (Royal East Kent Regiment) before they became part of The Queen’s Own Buffs, at Shorncliffe. He leaves a loving wife, a son Derek, a former Royal Marine Commando, and a daughter Leslie and four Grandchildren.
During his tour in Kenya with the 1st Queen’s Own Buffs, he attended a APTC convention with other Corpsmen at Gil Gil in Kenya who came from all over Kenya during the Mau Mau emergency, which did not end until 1962.
On his return from Kenya, he became involved with army and combined services basketball and he also officiated many games for the infamous Aldershot Warriors (a pseudonym for the army basketball team) the then National Champions.
Don was one of the original founders of the North-West Branch when thy first convened in 1987 at a public house called ‘The Swan with Two Necks’ in Shudehill, Manchester. He was a loyal supporter of the branch until recently, when
Brian Barnes, Chas Trainor, Ralph Cooper, Sid Tye, John Chatterley, SMI C Robinson, John Bromley, Don Patterson
his health deteriorated and could not drive. Keen to attend, he turned up in a taxi which must have set him back financially.
Service Record
He enlisted on the 15/01/1953 (Royal Engineers), transferred to the APTC on the 03/04/1954 and discharged 23/09/1975
EX-WO1 (SMI) DON PATTERSON
Harry was born Harold Griffiths on 27th July 1932 in Royston, near Barnsley - a proud Yorkshireman.
Harry left school at the early age of 14, just after the end of WW2, to start his working life as a ‘pit boy’ in nearby Monkton Main Colliery and that was his life for over 3 years. By the time he was an 18-year-old, a much more exciting prospect of travel and a career in the Army was beckoning.
Harry joined the Royal Engineers in 1950 and was soon attracted to the role of a Physical Fitness Instructor. He had always been keen on pumping iron and keeping fit, so he took the opportunity to do courses run by what we now know as the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC), so that he could become an Assistant Physical Training Instructor in the Royal Engineers Training Regiment near Farnborough. This he did for 5 years before he returned to try out civilian life when he was in his early twenties.
But Harry was smitten, and in the early 1960s he returned to Army life. By now he was a more experienced person and determined to make-a-go of a career in developing and maintaining the fitness of soldiers in their various roles. He buckled down and passed advance courses as a specialist in mental and physical fitness. When he had finished, he was transferred to the APTC to become a full-time Physical Training Corps Instructor.
It’s worth saying something about the core values of the RAPTC because I think it tells us quite a lot about what attracted Harry to the Corps, and about his own values in life. The Corps lists their key values as being: Discipline, Selfless Commitment, Respect for others, Loyalty, Integrity, Courage and Teamwork – very similar to Christian core values and, wherever Harry went, you could see those qualities in his life – even well into his later years.
Staff Sergeant Harry Griffiths worked as a Senior Instructor in at least 4 army units, over nearly 18 years, being responsible for
both the physical and mental fitness of soldiers who were going to serve in whatever capacity.
Harry loved dancing, especially the jive. Whilst he was with the Corps, he turned his hand or his feet to starting a Dance School. In addition, he was a very useful boxer, but had to give it up to protect his exceptional ‘good looks.’ In fact, Harry was good at most things he attempted, that is, apart from telling jokes! Even then, people had to laugh because he usually got the delivery wrong – bit like a smaller version of Tommy Cooper he knew that and enjoyed it.
EX SSI HARRY GRIFFITHS (1932 – 2020)
By his daughter Romanda Jobson