Page 128 - Light Dragoons 2023 CREST

Served: 1980-98 Died: 10 Oct 22.
Patrick Darling joined 15th/19th The King’s Royal Hussars in Paderborn on Sahagun Day 1981. He grew up in Omagh and had been identified as a suita- ble potential officer having given several
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Maj P J A Darling DL
numerous guests from his stables, ran a very entertaining shoot and fished his stretch of the Wye. His energy, charm, sense of fun and ability to get things done led to him being asked to be president, chairman and director of many organisa- tions. His considerable contribution to the county was recognised in his appointments as High Sheriff and subsequently as a Deputy Lieutenant. Despite being struck by illness, the enthusiasm and sense of fun for which his friends knew him so well never faded. He was still hosting days shooting and hunting while going through chemotherapy, courageously taking on big fences against all pleas and advice. Many contemporaries, both officers and soldiers, attended his thanksgiving service at a packed Hereford Cathedral, testament to how many people’s lives were enhanced by Paddy’s boundless zest for life and ability to charm whoever he met.
where his high standards kept the officer troop leaders on their toes. He much enjoyed his radio call-sign of 33 – in the slick procedure of those days he dropped the “Hello” and “This is” when calling SHQ (being C Sqn also call-sign 3) – abbre- viating his message to “3 – 33” to which the SHQ response was “3 over” – the Russian intercept stations must have been mightily confused. After a spell in the newly formed Command and Support Sqn in 1975 he was promoted to WO2 to be Sqn Sgt Major of his beloved A Sqn. and then finally to WO1 as RSM in 1977, just as the Regiment settled down to a new location in Paderborn. Although his high standards and huge pride in the Regiment percolated through to every level, he was never very comfortable with the nuts and bolts of an RSM’s job which often requires a hard and unforgiving approach in matters of disci- pline. That was not Lew’s style: he was naturally kind, generous and sympathetic in all his dealings but some did perceive this as being too laid-back for the RSM role. After his stint as RSM he was deserv- edly commissioned and continued for the next 9 years In HQ Sqn where he proved to be quite the most effective Families’ Officer the Regiment has seen, brilliantly solving the many difficult and sensitive problems that arise in that post. On the side he also ran a very successful PRI, and as amalgamation loomed in 1990 he moved to a final posting as a staff officer with HQ 8 Infantry Brigade and he was awarded a MiD. But his support to the Regiment did not end there. Aside from his work for the British Legion and as Chairman of the Scottish Branch of the Regimental Association, in retirement he had quietly spotted a glaring gap in our Regimental histories. The historical record of the 19th Hussars finishes in 1899, with the final chapter of Col Biddulph’s history. There was no historical record of the 19th from 1900 until the amalgamation with the 15th in 1922 – years which include the Boer War and First World War, in both of which the 19th took full part. Lew was determined to fill this gap, and at his own expense researched and published a history of those 22 eventful years. Future generations of Light Dragoons will have good reason to be grateful for his efforts. Lew’s son John followed him into the Light Dragoons, and Lew lived long enough to learn of John’s promotion to Colonel and his appointment as Commander of the RAC Centre at Bovington. We can only hope that Lew saw this as a triumphant vindica- tion of his own life in the service of his Regiment.
CAGW
senior officers a lead out hunting during the Regiment‘s tour there. He cut his teeth commanding Assault Troop, B Squadron while always extracting maximum fun out of life and often falling the wrong side of authority, for which he had a healthy irrev- erence. Behind a somewhat eccentric exte- rior was a sharp brain and he knew how to strike a balance between work and play. His soldiers, while often left guessing what might come next, certainly had fun and he built a highly efficient and proud troop that became known as “Paddy’s Darlings”. His love of horses led to a year of equita- tion at the Cadre Noir before going on to be Assistant Adjutant in Detmold, Adjutant Queen’s Own Yeomanry and then on to the Gunnery School in Lulworth. After Staff College he returned to com- mand C Squadron and took them to Bosnia later that year. He had a shrewd under- standing of the bigger picture and was happy to cut through red tape to get things done, always finding amusement in any furore he might cause further up the chain of command. His idiosyncratic approach to building relations with local Bosnian leaders, long before raising any matters military, involved fishing with them and discussing shooting or hunting at length over a glass of rakia, while often playing them his favourite tape of Irish hounds running. This proved highly effective and led to a successful tour in which he achieved more freedom of movement in his area of responsibility than most others while managing to get the Squadron into both Horse & Hound and a well-known top-shelf magazine. He was to return to Bosnia in his job as MA to Maj Gen McAfee and then while on the staff of Carl Bildt, the former Swedish Prime Minister who served as EU Special Envoy to the Former Yugoslavia. After his last job in the army as DCOS HQ 1 Recce Brigade he moved with his family to Herefordshire where he was able to indulge his passion for horses, the countryside and field sports. He was a hugely popular MFH, mounting
JDHN
Maj J L Godfrey
Served: 1957-94 Died: 8 Nov 22.
Anybody who served in the 15th/19th Hussars over the three decades prior to amalgamation cannot fail to remem- ber Lew Godfrey. Invariably cheerful, kind, and enthusias- tic, his long, lanky frame always on the
verge of breaking into gales of laughter at the slightest pretext, he was wonderful company in all circumstances. He was also an exceptionally loyal regimental charac- ter, devoting most of his working life (and retirement) to furthering its interests. He was an A Squadron man, qualifying as a D&M instructor in the rank of LCpl when the Regiment was in the training role at Barnard Castle in 1961, then rising quickly up the promotion ladder, as a troop Cpl in 3rd Tp in 1964 and on to Tp Sgt in 1966. He was fortunate in having two quite exceptional squadron leaders in Majors David Boyall and Simon Murray from whom he learned much – military matters from Boyall who had been attached to the 5th Royal Inniskilling DG in the Korean campaign, and a life-long interest in regi- mental history from Simon Murray who was engaged in writing a pocket history of the Regiment at the time. The Regimental hierarchy decided to move him from A Sqn in 1970 and he was promoted to be a staff sergeant troop leader of 3rd Troop C Sqn
126