Page 115 - MERCIAN Eagle 2011

JARVIS Donald George Henry Capt
Donald Jarvis died at his care home in Leigh- on-Sea, on 27th June 2010, aged 92. Donald was born on 21st April 1918 and attended Raine’s Foundation School in London.
He trained at OCTU Colchester and was commissioned into The South Staffordshire Regiment in 1940 and served initially at Whittington Barracks. In 1942 he was posted to the 15th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment in Northern Ireland and moved with them to the Faroe Islands in May 1943. In 1944 he was posted to the 7th South Staffords (which was part of 59 Division)
and was with them in the heavy fighting in Normandy. His file, which he wrote, states that he rose to the rank of Captain, although his family believe that he was Acting Major when he was wounded. He was repatriated to UK. Later in the year he was posted to ITC 23 in Worcester and was demobilised in 1946. He would often comment that out of 600 men who landed with him in Normandy, only 80 remained uninjured after six weeks.
After the War he worked for Crown Agents in London and spent much time travelling abroad. Between 1961 -4 he was posted to Jamaica and helped set up the Ministry of Supply there. He retired in 1978 having risen to the rank of Assistant Under Secretary. He married Joan in 1941 and lived in Leigh-on-Sea. In retirement he took an Open University Degree, became a keen sailor and was an accomplished artist. He is succeeded by his daughters Carolyn, Susan and son Andrew. He had six grandchildren and three great grand children.
JEWSON Les Les Jewson died on Sunday 29th August 2010. Les served
with 5th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment and was with them at Dunkirk. Later he served in North Africa, Italy and Normandy; we believe that this was with The Staffordshire Yeomanry. After WW2
he served with the Royal Engineers (TA). He was a member of Walsall & Bloxwich Branch of the Regimental Association. After his return to UK at the end of hostilities, he decided that he had seen enough of the world and vowed never to go to abroad again. His funeral took place at Streetly Crematorium on 22nd September 2010.
JOHNSON Anthony Joseph Maj Major Tony Johnson was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1923 and enlisted in the Young Soldiers Regiment RAC in 1942. He was commissioned into the 4th Battalion of the North Staffordshire
Regiment in late 1943 and served with them in Italy and Egypt before transferring to the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment in 1950 where he served firstly as a Coy 2IC and then OC in Barnard Castle and Cyprus.
He became a Staff Captain at HQ Cyprus District in 1952 and was then posted to the Regimental Depot at The Dale, Chester as
OC Training Coy until 1957. He was then posted to the Ghana Regiment Training Centre for three years as a Coy Commander and then on promotion to Major, as the Second in Command. His next posting returned him to Chester as Training Major of the 4th Battalion (TA) in 1960.
He rejoined the 1st Battalion of The 22nd in Munster as a Company Commander in 1963, followed by appointments at IJLB Oswestry and again back with 1 CHESHIRE as Families Officer before taking up his final appointment as a Company Commander
at the Depot, Lichfield in 1971, retiring in 1978. On retirement, he settled in Streethay, near Lichfield and took up the post of Unit Admin Officer and CAO at the Depot.
Tony Johnson was a keen fisherman who also enjoyed the sports of Scrambling and Rallying, for which he thanks his time in Trieste when he was responsible for the unit’s Motor Pool. He married Doreen (who predeceased him) in 1945 and together they had 3 children.
KIBBLE Frederick William Frederick Kibble died peacefully in the Royal Hospital Chelsea on the 28th January 2011, aged 81. He had been bedridden for some time. Fred was born in Karachi on the 30th July 1929. All we know about his early life is that he worked
in a plastics factory in Sutton Coldfield in 1943 and stayed four years. In April 1947 he enlisted into The South Staffordshire Regiment. His basic training took place at 28 Training Battalion in Holywood Barracks Belfast, after which he attended the
Mercian Brigade Training Centre in Park Hall Camp, Oswestry. He completed an NCOs course and was posted to 2nd Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment in the Canal Zone around December 1947. After the amalgamation between 1st and 2nd Battalions, he continued to serve with the new 1st Battalion in Lichfield and Trieste. He left the Army for thirteen months, but rejoined the North Staffords in January 1954 and was posted to Korea. He joined the Orderly Room and served in Hong Kong and Lichfield. In June 1957 he transferred
to the Royal Army Service Corps and was posted to Aden, followed by Stanmore. He joined 31 Coy Gurkha Army Service Corps
in Singapore and was with them in their
tours of Borneo. His final postings included Hong Kong, Bielefeld and Shrewsbury and he retired in 1971. Many years later he became a pensioner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and on occasions returned to attend Regimental reunions. His funeral took place at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on Wednesday 16th February 2011.
MARSDEN Michael Thomas George ‘Lotty’ Sgt of Felixstowe died on 24 November 2010 aged 54. He enlisted in April 1971 into the 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters
Regiment and served with the Battalion in UK, Cyprus and Northern Ireland. He was attached to 1 STAFFORDS for Op GRANBY for the first Gulf War, where he was a First Class Warrior Sgt. On 31 October 1993 he left the Army and took up employment with the Police as a transport manager.
MARSON Harold John Harold Marson died on the 4th August 2011 aged 84.
He served with 1st Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment in Palestine and was a member of the West Bromwich Branch of the Regimental Association. His funeral took place at Sandwell Valley Crematorium 12th August 2011.
MASON Warren Warren died on Thursday 31st March 2011 aged sixty six. Warren served in 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment from 1960 – 69 and was in the Corps of Drums and completed his service in the MT. He was a member of the Lichfield Branch Regimental Association . His
funeral took place on Monday 11th April at Carmountside Crematorium, Milton, Stoke- on-Trent.
McGAHEY Peter Lt Col MBE Peter died in a nursing home near Leighton Buzzard on Sunday 26th December 2010, aged eighty two. He was born on 11th February 1928 and attended King’s College Taunton. He enlisted into
the 28th Training Battalion in August 1945 and after attending 164 Infantry OCTU was granted an Emergency Commission in the Devonshire Regiment and joined their 2nd Battalion in Austria in September 1946. He later served with their 1st Battalion in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya, at the start of the emergency. He was commissioned into The North Staffordshire Regiment in 1949 as a Regular. After a posting in Lichfield with 1st Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment in Lichfield, he had a long period of service with his own Battalion in Lichfield, Trieste, Korea, Hong Kong and Minden and served as Mortar Officer, Adjutant and MTO.
In 1959 he attended the Army Staff College and was posted to HQ Cyrenaica Area in Benghazi for three years, where
he was awarded the MBE. Afterwards he commanded a rifle coy in 1st Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment, served in HQ Mercian Brigade and then became Battalion 21C of 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment in Dover, Cyprus and Berlin.
He was Brigade Major for HQ 99 Infantry Brigade in Singapore, before commanding 1st Battalion, The Mercian Volunteers
in Wolverhampton. During his tour of command the 1st Battalion were presented with their Colours. His final appointment was in HQ BFME in Cyprus, during his period there, the Turkish Invasion took place.
Peter left the Army in 1975, but continued
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