Page 241 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Obituaries
BUCKINGHAM – William
Walter Bill enlisted into
the 4th Bn Oxfordshire &
Buckinghamshire Light
Infantry on 2nd December
1938. Too young to go to
Europe with them as part of
the BEF and so spared their
fate on the retreat to Dunkirk
he moved to the new 5th Bn
and served with them on the
South Coast and in Northern
Ireland where they moved in
May 1940. A regimental bugler with the 5th when that Battalion disbanded he transferred to the Corps of Military Police in 1944 and served with them in Europe and Palestine as a police despatch rider. Bill was medically discharged after he sustained damage to his sight when the petrol tanker he was escorting blew up.
A prominent T&GWU (Unite) shop steward at the Cowley Car Plant from 1948 to 1984 and a magistrate for more than 30 years Bill also had a long career in local politics. A staunch Labour man from 1962 he was a Councillor with Bullingdon RDC
for 12 years and then with the successor South Oxfordshire District Council for a further 17 years. In 1991 he became an Oxford City Councillor for the Littlemore Ward and continued to represent what later became the Rose Hill & If ey Ward until 2006. He was also instrumental in the reconstruction and on-going success of the Rose Hill Community Centre.
He was Sheriff of Oxford in 1993 and Lord Mayor of the City of Oxford in 1994/5, proudly inviting the Royal Green Jackets to exercise the Freedom of Oxford on VE Day Sunday 7 May 1995. Bill kept in touch with his old regiment through the 43rd & 52nd Old Comrades and was present at the unveiling of the memorial to the men of the 4th Bn at Cassel in 2006. Bill died on 21 June 2017 aged 96.
Mike Marr
BILL WAS MEDICALLY DISCHARGED AFTER HE SUSTAINED DAMAGE TO HIS SIGHT WHEN THE PETROL TANKER HE WAS ESCORTING BLEW UP
DENNY - Jon Patrick Maynard, Captain Jon Denny, on the National Service list, was commis- sioned 2/Lt in to the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on 27 July 1957 and joined the regiment in Cyprus at Buckingham Camp, Limassol on 2 September and was posted to the Signal Platoon under Brian Balls. The Battalion, commanded by Lt-Col J. A. J. Read DSO, MC, had been ordered to Cyprus the previous year for Internal Security duties to counter the EOKA Terrorists Emergency 1956-59. After a few months in Nicosia the Battalion moved to Limassol to take command of military operations. This was a challenging time for all ranks and it was here that close friendships were formed which proved suf ciently strong to last a lifetime. Jon completed his National Service on 10 November 58 but had so enjoyed life in the Regiment he volun- teered to serve in the Territorial Reserve, the Oxford- shire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (TA), from 1959-66. The Battalion based in Oxford was commanded by Lt-Col G. Montague-Jones who appreciated Jon’s early experience of operations in Cyprus and appointed him Signal Of cer. He was promoted Lt on 22 March 1959.
In 1958 the Regiment was re-titled 1st Green Jackets, 43rd and 52nd. It was confusing to see the Territorial Battalion still retaining its old name and cap badge but wearing black buttons and Green Jacket ashes with Oxf & Bucks metal shoulder titles. On 4 November 1960, Her Majesty the Queen visited Oxford during which the Battalion provided a Guard of Honour. Lieutenant Denny who was smart, tall and steady was selected to carry the Queen’s Colour. Her Majesty was pleased with her Guard; and subsequently Denny was promoted Captain on 1 Nov 1963. Later in 1964, Her Majesty was graciously pleased to approve that the TA Battalion “shall henceforth be a Ri e Battalion”. Two years later the Royal Green Jackets were formed to coincide
with the nal year of the Territorial Army and Jon’s service terminated on 1 April 1967.
Jon was educated at Downside and Jesus College Cambridge 1953-6, and read Natural Sciences; a keen oarsman he was awarded a Blue in 1956 when he was selected to cox the Cambridge Eight in the annual University Boat Race. Surely, a most unlikely selection because of his height! The event was portrayed vividly in a London Standard Jak cartoon, which showed the Cambridge boat approaching Tower Bridge with the ‘jaws’ of the bridge opening wide to full height allowing the ‘cox’, sitting bean-pole tall with his ‘eight’, to pass through – crossing the nishing line rst, of course! A remarkable achievement.
Jon was a keen golfer, a sherman, a computer buff and a family man. He was a good companion, a generous and amusing host, who was liked and respected by all. He had an interesting, varied and successful career. He worked as a research chemist for Shell Chemicals for some years after his army service, before becoming a management consultant for AIC Inbucan. Later he was Group Managing Director of Readicut Carpets Plc before starting his own business with a family friend and partner. Their business pioneered the use of laptops computers in briefcases for journalists in the mid1980s.
Jon was married to Pam Hoskins in March 1966 at Heswall, Merseyside; they had three children Lisa, Mark and David; ve grandsons, one step grandson and one step granddaughter.
Born 8 July 1935, died peacefully at home in Wales on 4 Feb 2017
LIEUTENANT DENNY WHO WAS SMART, TALL AND STEADY WAS SELECTED TO CARRY THE QUEEN’S COLOUR
THE RIFLES
REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS 239