Page 120 - Light Dragoons 2023 CREST

The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
vice with D Squadron also. Bob and the Regiment returned to Germany and again Hohne where by now he was serving in Motor Transport (MT) Troop of Administrative Squadron during 1976. By 1977 there was a Northern Ireland tour at Omagh where Bob remained with MT Troop. The Regiment then moved to Carver Barracks in Essex and an Armoured Recce Squadron to Cyprus serving in the Western Sovereign Base Area in May 1981 which he was part of before discharging.
Mr A R Coates
Died: 22 Jun 22 Served: 1954-66.
Alan Coates joined the Regiment in Wolfenbuttel, Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine in July 1954. Serving in C and HQ Squadrons during his service he also served a period in the Far East in Malaya, earning him his General Service Medal with Clasp for Malaya. A Corporal whilst in C Squadron before pro- moting and serving in HQ Squadron as a Sergeant. Alan was discharged in July 1966.
Mr M J Howlett
Died: 29 Jun 22 Served: 1957-68.
Michael Howlett enlisted on 4 June 1957 having served in the British Army of the Rhine in Germany initially, and also a period as part of the FARELF in Malaya and Aden during his time. A member of B
Squadron before being attached to 3rd Royal Tank Regiment for a while in 1964 as an Acting Sergeant. He ended his service as a substantive Sergeant and discharged in September 1968. He was awarded the General Service Medal (GSM) for his ser- vice in Malaya and Aden.
W R Blackhurst Esq
Died: 26 Jul 22 Served: 1957-58.
Robin Blackhurst was a National Service Officer who served with the Regiment in Neumunster and Piddlehinton.He was born on August 28th, 1934. He went to Shrewsbury School, where he was
captain of the shooting team. Robin cred- ited the terrible food at school during the War with his ability to eat “everything but a sheep’s eye.” Robin went on to read Law at Balliol College at Oxford University in 1953. He was the President of the Oxford
University Dramatic Society and a Shakespearean actor playing the lead role in both Othello and The Taming of the Shrew. Robin also acted with the Balliol Players and was in the Oxford University second golf team, which he referred to as the “drinking team”. While at Oxford, he bought his first car, a 1929 London taxi for five pounds. At Mons Officer Cadet School he was the Senior Under Officer in his intake and received the Stick of Honour from Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. He joined HQ Squadron in Neumunster in July 1957 and was with A Squadron in Piddlehinton in 1958 until the Regiment went to Malaya. In 1959 Robin joined the Bank of London and South America and started a long banking career in Latin America initially living in Argentina and then Paraguay. He then moved back to Argentina where he met his wife Graciela and where his first daughter Alex was born. The family soon moved to Brazil where his second daughter Deborah was born. Robin held a variety of senior bank- ing positions at leading banks at Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh, United Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and Banco Bozano Simonsen, a pioneering Brazilian invest- ment bank. He also worked with Hills Brothers Coffee, an exporter of Brazilian commodities. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Robin used his legal training, knowledge of Latin America, and espe- cially his ability to work across cultures and quickly make friends – often while playing golf or bridge – to raise capital for a variety of infrastructure projects and helped open new markets in Asia for Latin America borrowers. In 1997 Robin mar- ried his second wife Stephanie Wilds, a commodities trading executive, and daughter of his mentor and loyal friend, Walter Wilds. Robin and Stephanie were inseparable for 30 years and Robin treated her children as his own. The family lived in São Paulo, then Rio de Janeiro and his estate near Petropolis. They moved to New York City in 2004 and, finally, to West Palm Beach, Florida. Robin loved fishing and was seldom happier than when fly fish- ing for trout in Alaska, salmon in Russia and on the River Spey in Scotland or giant eels in Lancashire. He also loved shooting. He kept a pair of guns at Holland and Holland and came back to the UK almost every year to shoot with friends. Robin always had time for a little whiskey, a cigar, and a game of backgammon with an old or new acquaintance. He was in constant touch by phone or email with his Regimental friends right up until just before he died on July 26th, 2022, shortly after Stephanie’s sudden death on 11th July 2022.
by Pam, Fred’s ex wife that he had sadly died aged 73. After completing his basic training Fred joined the Regiment in 1971. On arrival in the Regiment he was initially employed on the tank park before mov- ing to MT where he would spend most of his career. He was a keen sportsman and was HQ Sqn hockey goalkeeper. In 1984 he was posted to the Army Careers Office in Sheffield and was employed with the Army Youth Team. It was in 1986 that he decided to leave the Army after attaining the rank of Sgt. He was heavily involved with the Mason’s in the Sheffield area and was Master of his Lodge.
Maj Gen H S R Watson CBE
Died: 14 Aug 22 Served: 1942-76.
Major General Stuart Watson CBE died on 14th August 2022 aged 100. Stuart Watson was about to go up to Cambridge to study Natural Sciences after Winchester when war broke out. Deferring his entry,
he joined up. Initially as an unpaid L/Cpl at Catterick where he was in charge of a squad of Welshman who would only speak Welsh! In recognition of his obvious lead- ership talents in leading the Celtic fringe, he was sent to Sandhurst and commis- sioned into the 13th/18th Royal Hussars in 1942. He joined A Squadron at Skipton as 3rd Troop Leader under that brilliant trainer Derrick Wormald. In the Spring of 1943, the Regiment were given the most secret of roles. They were to spearhead the Allied invasion of Europe in specially adapted DD swimming tanks. By D Day Stuart was the RSO and landed in his tank directly onto Sword Beach shortly after the two lead squadrons had landed in that most amazing feat of swimming in from 5000 yards in a rough sea. As his tank moved up the beach it struck a mine that blew off the track. Stuart and his crew dis- mounted to inspect the damage. At that moment Major The Earl of Feversham , the second-in-command, appeared in his tank and berated the crew for exposing themselves to the heavy enemy indirect fire. Stuart transferred to a scout car which was his vehicle, as RSO, for most of the war. He was to see action up through Normandy, into the Low Countries and on into the Ardennes. On 19 December, he was acting Adjutant to John Cordy- Simpson who was in command, while the CO and Adjutant were away for 48 hours, sampling the high life in Brussels. The Regiment was ordered to move immedi- ately to try and hold the German break through in what was to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. The CO returned the next day and against orders broke radio silence which resulted in RHQ receiving some very heavy shelling by the Germans.
Mr J J F Whiting
Died: 13 Aug 22 Served: 1971-86.
Although christened John was known as Fred in the Regiment. We were informed
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