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enough to take a tank’s weight. However, the folding bridge did not completely span the wooden structure and, when the decision was made to test it with a light Stuart tank, Captain Sprot again took the lead, cross- ing under an intense barrage of close range fire. He then took up position in a side street and engaged the enemy until all the Sherman tanks had crossed safely.
Next morning the enemy retaliated, attempting to re- take the village. The majority of Allied tanks were else- where holding high ground but Captain Sprot, with only one other Stuart tank, went out to meet them head on in particularly difficult terrain. Ignoring all risks, he engaged the enemy, repelled them, took three prisoners and overran a 20mm gun.
His fearless leadership under fire earned him the Military Cross. In the words of his citation he had shown “outstanding skill and initiative and a complete disregard for danger”
After fighting on through Belgium and the Netherlands, he was based at a farm in Wismar, on Germany’s Baltic coast, when news came through that the war was over. He and his colleagues marked VE Day with a service for the dead.
He continued to serve with the regiment in Germany until 1952 when he went to Libya, Egypt and Jordan. Returning to the UK in 1955, he spent three years there before going back to Germany, serving as com- manding officer from 1959 until his retirement from the army three years later.
He arrived back in Scotland to help his uncle Sir Duncan Hay run the Haystoun estate, which he later inherited, becoming a farmer in 1965. He was a mem- ber of the Queen’s Bodyguard for Scotland from 1950 and a Peeblesshire County councillor for many years. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant until 1980, when he became the Lord Lieutenant for Tweeddale, and was particularly proud to welcome HM The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on their 1988 visit to Peeblesshire.
Deeply committed to the local community, Aidan’s service was extensive and included roles as county director of the local Red Cross branch, county scout commissioner and president of Borders Area Scout Association – reflecting his support of local youngsters. He was honoured with the British Red Cross Society’s Badge of Honour and the Scout Medal of Merit.
Among other posts, he was honorary secretary of the Royal Caledonian Hunt, president of the Lowlands Territorial Army and of the Lothian Federation of Boys’ Clubs, vice-president of the Royal Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland and honorary presi- dent of Peebles Royal British Legion.
He was also a great supporter of and ambassador for the Peebles Beltane Festival. Following installation as Warden of Neidpath in 1981 he attended the ceremony every year, providing support and advice for each new warden, and gifted the Crowning Lady’s Brooch which had originally been presented to his aunt more than a century earlier.
In 1994, in recognition of his outstanding and dis- tinguished service to Tweeddale, he was made an Honorary Freeman of the area, just like his grandfa- ther and uncle before him.
His part in the liberation of France was finally marked in 2015 when he was awarded the country’s Legion d’Honneur in a ceremony aboard a French naval ves- sel in Leith. Some years earlier he had written his own war memoirs, Swifter Than Eagles, recounting his ser- vice with the Royal Scots Greys, later the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
Aidan Sprot who loved welcoming members of the Regiment to his home never married and is survived by his niece The Hon Mrs Mary Coltman. He was bur- ied in the family plot in Peebles.
Major Tony Crease MBE BEM
Anyone who has met Tony Crease (universally known as ‘TC’) - whether as a young soldier, a piper, a Pipe Major, a Sergeant Major, a Regimental Sergeant Major, a commissioned officer, a Regimental Association Chairman, a retired officer look- ing after the Defence Estate, a con- servation champion or... battling
ill health in recent years - would be struck by his char- acteristics: committed, conscientious, constant, crisp of bearing and manner and passionate about standards and his Regiment.
In many ways, he epitomised a perspective drawn from a previous age where military service and duty acted as life’s guiderail. His approach was always struc- tured and careful, with each opinion or decision made in sum of careful thought and with an eye to conse- quence. Certainly, a perfectionist, whom some might have described as austere, he tended to measure peo- ple by their actions and their approach. One would be sure to recall his reaction whatever the circumstances. Praise would generally be rare and would have to be