Page 277 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

ROSSER – Mr Gordon known to all as Gordie, died on 13th November 2016 aged 75. Gordie Rosser served with: The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry; 1st Battalion, The Light Infantry; and, 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry. There he ended his service as a Colour Sergeant
STORM - Mr Ian Newson died on 21st June 2017 aged 82. He enlisted into the SOM LI in 1954 serving with 1 SOM LI in Malaya. Subsequent postings with the Bn followed until the formation of the SCLI when he then served as a Training Serjeant at Bodmin. He later served with 1 SCLI in Osnabruck and Gibralter before moving as a Training Serjeant, rst with the Junior Tradesmen Regt at Rhyl, then to training Of cer Cadets at Mons. Promoted Colour Serjeant in 1966, he was posted to 1 DLI, serving in Colchester and Cyprus. He was further promoted to WO2 before moving to 1LI in Lemgo and Northern Ireland, after which he was posted to the Infantry Junior Leaders as a CSM.
His nal posting before leaving the Army in 1976 was with the Infantry Display Team at Warminster. His civilian occupation until his retirement in 1996 was as a Stock Controller. A member of the Taunton Branch, our condolences go to his wife Christine, two sons and daughter.
STRAWBRIDGE – Ronald Lieutenant died on 20th June 2017 aged 90 years old. Ron Strawbridge, as a young of cer, served with 2nd Battalion The Somerset Light Infantry in both Italy and Greece. Later and before leaving the Army he also served in Austria. After leaving the Armed Forces his career was largely spent as a Butcher. Ron was also a member of the Norton Radstock Branch of the Regimental Association. Ron is survived by his children to whom we send our condolences.
VAUGHAN – Mr Victor Stanley died on 21st November 2016 aged 73. He enlisted in the SCLI in 1962 and served with 1 SCLI in Gibraltar, Berlin, the UK and Aden and later with 1 LI in Germany, Northern Ireland and other subsequent postings. On leaving the Army in 1973 having attained the rank of Cpl, he served brie y in the TA. His civilian occupation, from which he had to take early retirement due to his wife ill health, was with the AA in which he attained the rank of Inspector. He was also for many years a Special Constable with the West Mercia Constabulary. A member of the Taunton Branch, our condolences go to his wife Marianne and family.
WELLS – Maurice, Sergeant died on 25th December 2016 aged 92 years old. Maurice was conscripted into the Army in August 1942, just before his eighteenth birthday and following basic training was posted to 2nd Glosters. Further training at Inverness before in early 1944 he moved to the Winchester area. Subsequently as a part of the 56th Infantry Brigade they landed at Normandy on D Day and fought throughout the Normandy, notably at Thury-Harcourt and Le Havre, and for much of the NW Europe campaigns. On arrival at the Dutch town of Stampersgat, Maurice was captured and held within the town for 5 days in a sugar factory. As the Germans withdrew he made
his escape and returned to his lines. In February 1945 he enjoyed a spell of R&R during which time he was re-badged to the Warwickshire regiment and sent out to Palestine where he served until his discharge in 1947. He subsequently lived in Wokingham where he worked in Quality Control. He became a staunch member of the Royal British Legion and continued to take an active interest in regimental matters often assisted by his nephew who served in the REME.
WELSH – Mr John Ernest died on 25th November 2016 aged 80. John joined 1 DCLI in 1958 and thereafter served with 1 SCLI before leaving the Army in late 1963. He was from Co Durham where he worked as a tiler.
WESTWOOD – Mr William Bill died in Spring 2017 aged 92. Having joined the Intelligence Corps in 1948 he transferred to the Gloucestershire Regiment and at the time of the Korean war was serving as a Corporal in Battalion Headquarters. Following his return from Korea he rejopined the Intelligence Corps where he spent various postings around the world including Burma, Malaya, Germant and the Persian Gulf. He left the Army in 1969 and emigrated to South Africa.
YOUNG (Nee Foote) – Mr Terry died 13th March 2017 aged 70 years old. He served in both 1 R HAMPS and 1 GLOSTERS. Terry Foote will be remembered by Glosters, the majority of his service having been spent with the Gloucestershire Regiment. He is well remembered as the Provost Corporal and also became a stalwart of the Recce Platoon. His particular speciality
was the Fox vehicle with which he served in Tidworth and then Berlin, during the 1980s. Both Colonel Ian Harris and Mr Ray Deacon, a former Fox Platoon Sergeant, maintained contact with Terry Foote and visited him at Stroud General Hospital prior to his death; our condolences go to his family.
THE RIFLES
REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS 275