Page 104 - The KRH Year of 2023 (CREST Sharing)

104
The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
Major M Heyer-Lyford
ers at the time he sported the 1953 Coronation medal awarded to choirboys who sang at the Queen’s Coronation.
Obituaries
Mike was a marked man. On a Soltau exercise the Brigadier passed Mike’s troop in his Land-Rover while he was shaving and bare chested. Unable to rebuke him for incorrect dress, and despite Mike not wearing head dress, the Brigadier repri- manded him for not saluting. Unwisely, Mike got his own back at a mess party, hitting Brigadier Ward over the head with a pillow, which covered him with feathers. Neither Ward nor his wife were amused or forgiving.
With unfortunate timing Mike arrived to command B Squadron 14/20H in Hong Kong in 1971 much the same time as General Ward took up his post as Commander British Forces (CBF) Hong Kong. The two were reunited in Sek Kong during a Fitness For Role (FFR) inspection of B Squadron. The day did not go well. Inevitably, other incidents occurred in squadron life but Mike steadfastly supported his officers and soldiers whenever they fell foul of authority. Following a brief interlude with A Squadron for its 1974 tour of South Armagh Mike then undertook a series of ERE appointments until he retired from the Army in 1979.
Mike, who was the step nephew of the novelist Georgette Heyer, was intelligent, erudite, very amusing company and enjoyed the good things in life. With his devoted wife Darry, they liked nothing more than entertaining, with both taking responsibility for shopping and cooking. Many young officers came to experience the lethality of their Pimms or Rumtopf and enjoy wonderful wines during an evening of fine dining.
Following the Army, Mike entered Lloyds and became an underwriter with one of the Murray Lawrence syndicates. Inseparable from each other, and their Dalmatians, Mike and Darry lived variously in London, Sussex, the Languedoc, and eventually settled in Cambridge. Mike died in September 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
JNS
He returned to regimental duty in 1955 initially to A Squadron in Carlisle and then successively as Intelligence Officer, Assistant Adjutant and Signals Officer. In all these appoint- ments he was renowned for his warmth and wonderful sense of humour. He was also a habitual practical joker often vying with his friend Dick Sutton. With these two around everyone had to have their wits about them! Despite all these appoint- ments during his two-year tour with the Regiment in Carlisle Willie managed to cross the Pennines for 60 days hunting with the Zetland, traditionally his family hunt. It was also during this posting that he met Virginia Holcroft (Ginnie) who was to become his wife for 62 years.
A second posting away from the Regiment as Adjutant to the RGH followed before Willie returned to the Regiment in Aden and Ginnie followed only to be sent packing when Willie went with his squadron to Kuwait which was then under threat of invasion by Iraq’s General Kassem. Before leaving Willie handed his new bride a cheque and was heard to say “get your- self back to your mother, it is possible I may never see you again!
3DG 1960 – 1971 14th/20th​King’s​Hussars​1971​–​1979
After cutting short under- graduate studies at Downing College, Cambridge, Michael Heyer-Lyford was commis- sioned from Sandhurst into the 3rd Carabiniers (3DG) in December 1960. He transferred to the 14th/20th King’s Hussars when 3DG amalgamated with the Royal Scots Greys to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in 1971. Unusually for young offic-
As a young officer in Germany fellow officers remember Mike’s uncanny ability to come to the attention of very senior officers. On one occasion Mike and his tank troop were des- patched to practice crossing the River Weser. At about 0900 hours Mike was woken in his tent by the sounds of a helicopter and a furiously-barking dog. The helicopter was trying to land with the Corps commander but was being prevented by Mike’s Dalmatian Trooper. Mike’s retelling of the story went: ‘it was clear to me that either the helicopter would run out of fuel or Trooper would die of exhaustion, so I had to retrieve Trooper’. Face to face the general demanded the name of the unshaven young officer dressed in a white polo neck jersey, very old trou- sers and gum boots. A furious letter followed to the Divisional commander stating that ‘.....I had occasion to visit the Sapper Bridging Camp, there I came across an officer who resembled an old washer woman....’. The displeasure of the two generals would then have been passed down the chain of command to the Brigade commander: Brigadier Dick Ward late of the Royal Tank Regiment.
Major W K Trotter CBE
11th​Hussars​(PAO)​1948​–​1969 The​Royal​Hussars​(PWO)​1969​–​1972
Willie Trotter joined his father’s old regiment the 11th Hussars (PAO), along with his twin brother John, in Osnabruck in 1948.Thereafter he became a stalwart and much-loved officer of the Regiment. His early days were spent in C squadron as troop leader. Always keen on sport he made the most of the opportunities in post-war BAOR. He represented the Regiment at
hockey and athletics and at many horse shows and enjoyed his polo, although not to a high handicap. He was also an accomplished shot. In 1952 he was posted to Bovington as an instructor at the Junior Leaders Regiment. Here Willie’s jovial but principled character and depth of military tradition made him a popular member of staff both with instructors and boy soldiers.