Page 113 - The KRH Year of 2023 (CREST Sharing)
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On return to England in 1960 his own regiment had been amalgamated and he transferred to the 10th Hussars, then sta- tioned at Paderborn, where he was a sergeant in the Technical Quartermaster’s Department. His interests included motor- rallying and it was noted that he was “a most life-like maharaja at the Sergeant’s Mess New Year’s Eve Dance”.
After conversion to armoured cars the regiment moved to the Arabian Peninsula in 1964. Lee was the Tech Sgt for the detached squadron in Sharjah, with a short spell in Aden. Back in Germany he was promoted to S/Sgt and he was the final TQMS of the 10th Hussars in Munster Prior to the amalgama- tion in 1969.
The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars 113
Warrant Officer (Class One) L F Osborne-Wakely MBE
7thQueen’sOwnHussars1950-1960 10thRoyalHussars(PWO)1960-1979 TheRoyalHussars(PWO)1979-1975
Lionel Osborne-Wakely, always known as Lee, was born in Portsmouth on 13th May 1930 and he remained a stalwart Pompey supporter all his life. He witnessed severe bombing dur- ing the Blitz of 1940 before the family moved to Stockport and then London.
Lee served with A Squadron of The Royal Hussars on a UNFICYP tour in Cyprus before taking over as TQMS in Tidworth. The 1970 RH Journal recorded: “TQMS Osborne- Wakely has kept smiling but we think that too much home- work has interfered with his fishing”. The Tech QM, Tom Knight, confirmed that he was always extremely hard-working and diligent.
From 1972 to 1975 Lee was both RSM and acting quartermas- ter of the newly-formed Royal Wessex Yeomanry both roles he filled with exceptional efficiency for which he was awarded the MBE.
He declined the offer of a commission and for his second career Lee was a Higher Executive Officer in the Department of Social Security in the Midlands.
After his wife Ada died Osborne-Wakely joined the Royal Hospital in Chelsea where he lived for 20 years until his death in November 2023. Although quite a private man Lee took part in a number of Remembrance events, the Chelsea Flower Show and a reception for members of the Order of the British Empire at St. James’s Palace in 2012. With no close relatives Lee left £50,000 to the Regimental Association of The King’s Royal Hussars in his will.
JPWF
and Cultural Exchange” with the American Army. He subse- quently wrote an excellent and detailed article on this for the 1971 Regimental Magazine.
He then reverted to being an armoured car Troop Leader with B Squadron which was part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, his last command before his short service commission came to an end in late 1971. He then rejoined his family in South Africa, taking up a managerial position in a Shipping Agency in Durban during which time he married. He then moved to Hong Kong where he spent many years work- ing for Jardine Matheson before retiring to Hampshire where he was able to indulge in his love of golf and shooting, attend- ing occasional Regimental reunions.
Michael died in March 2023 and It was typical of his sense of humour that in the final stage of his long illness he apologised to his family for “going absent without leave”! NJT
Lee joined the 7th Hussars in Luneburg in 1950 and subsequently served in Fallingbostel, Tidworth and Hong Hong. After a short tour with the Leicestershire Yeomanry he was seconded to the newly-formed
Ghana Army where he served in the armoured car squadron.
Second Lieutenant M J Radmore
10thRoyalHussars(PWO)1968–1969 TheRoyalHussars(PWO)1969–1971
Michael Radmore was the last young officer to be commissioned into the 10th Hussars before the Regiment’s 1969 amalgamation with the 11th Hussars.
Born in South Africa where his British father worked as a ship- ping agent, Michael was edu- cated at Winchester and after officer training at Mons he arrived in Munster in early 1968
as an armoured car Troop Leader in the Regiment’s role in the 1(BR) Corps Armoured Reconnaissance Screen Force. He rapidly acquired the nickname “Radish” and became popular with all ranks for his keen leadership and highly developed sense of humour.
On amalgamation, Michael became a tank Troop Leader in A Squadron, based in Warminster and in 1970 he led a 16 man composite troop to Fort Hood USA attached to a company of the Coldstream Guards for a very successful six week “Training
