Page 234 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Sir Ewen Fergusson GCMG GCVO Ewen Foreign Of ce and on his rst posting in London
Fergusson was the son of Sir Ewen MacGregor Field Fergusson born on 28 Oct 1932. Educated at Rugby he played rugby football for Oxford University (1952 and 1953) and Scotland (1954). He did National Service as a 2nd Lieut with 2 KRRC in Germany in 1954-56. After National Service he joined the
HIS FINAL POSTING AFTER A VERY DISTINGUISHED AND VARIED CAREER WAS AS BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE (1987-92)
he joined the Queen’s Westminster Ri es. Subse- quent Foreign Of ce postings took him abroad but he retained his contact with the Regiment. His nal posting after a very distinguished and varied career was as British Ambassador to France (1987-1992) at the end of which the President of France made him a Grand Of cer, Legion d’Honneur. He was King of Arms, Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St George (1996-2007). On retirement from the Diplomatic Service he had a number of City appointments but spent much of the past few years in retirement in France. He died in France aged 84 years on 20 April 2017. He is survived by his widow, a son (Ewen) and two daughters (Amanda and Iona).
Brigadier Peter Lyddon
MBE The Kings Royal Ri e
Corps and The Royal Green
Jackets. Peter Lyddon, elder
son of the late Vice Admiral
Sir Horace Lyddon KBE
CB, left Tonbridge School
in 1963 and joined the Army
as a Trooper in the 10th
Royal Hussars completing
six months basic training
at Catterick Camp before
entering Sandhurst. He
was commissioned in December 1965 into 2nd Green Jackets (The Kings Royal Corps) which became 2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets the following year. He served as a Platoon Commander in Malaysia, including on operations in Sabah, for eighteen months before returning to the Ri e Depot in Winchester as a training of cer.
During the 1970s he saw service in the UK, Germany Northern Ireland and Gibraltar in a range of regimental and staff appointments. He attended the Army Staff College in 1978 before returning to Regimental Duty as a Company Commander in 2RGJ and completing an operational tour in Ulster. This was followed by two years on the staff of HQ Northern Ireland. He was Mentioned in Despatches in 1974 and later appointed MBE for services in Northern Ireland.
In 1983 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed Military Assistant to the Quarter Master General. The following year he took command of the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion of the Royal Green Jackets, a NATO role Territorial Army battalion based in London, an appointment he relished and in which he ourished. He was promoted Colonel in 1987 serving two years in the MOD before selection as Chief of Staff, HQ British Sector, Berlin; he was in Berlin when the Wall came down and witnessed the subsequent reuni cation of East and West Germany.
PETER WAS A POPULAR AND WELL-LOVED OFFICER WHO CARED FOR HIS RIFLEMAN
A two year appointment as a Divisional Colonel at the Army Staff College, Camberley preceded his nal appointment as Commander, Catterick Garrison in the rank of Brigadier.
He left the Army in 1996 and later that year was chosen by the Dean and Chapter of York to be the next Chapter Clerk of York Minster. He was a great success in that role over the next 10 years, carrying out his responsibilities for staff and volun- teers with diligence and good humour whilst coordi- nating the administration and organisation of that large Cathedral with its many diverse properties and commercial interests.
In 2000, after fundamental changes were intro- duced into the governance of English Cathedrals, he was made the Chapter Steward, a full voting member of the Chapter, and a Canon of York or the ‘Canon Brigadier’ to many colleagues! During his time at York Minster he was also a Governor of St Peter’s School in York, Chairman of the Army Benevolent Fund for North Yorkshire and President of the Yorkshire Branch of the RGJ Association.
So much for the record; what of the man? Peter was a popular and well-loved of cer who cared for his Ri eman and their families, taking as much trouble with their welfare as with their careers. This care for others was carried through to his time in York Minster and ensured people worked for him because they wanted to rather than they had to. Thomas Cooper’s words on General Wolfe could equally well describe Peter Lyddon: “He put so much of his heart into his act that his example had a magnet force and all were swift to follow whom all loved well”.
He married Nicky in 1970 and three children followed, Edward, Emma and Simon. Only a short time after Peter had retired from York Minster and the golf course was beckoning, Emma tragically lost her husband. Peter and Nicky stepped in to provide a home and extended family for Emma and her twenty month old twins. The loving, caring environment they created helped the family through a dif cult time and says much about both Peter and Nicky, their love and strong sense of family. Indeed above all else Peter Lyddon was a family man. He is survived by his wife Nicky, their three married children and seven grandchildren who, in his own words, “were all the love of his life.”
Vere Hayes
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