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Although not from a farming background Geoffrey
Durrant spent his early years with cattle and horses in Wirral, Cheshire. Educated at Calday Grange Grammar School, he worked on farms in Cheshire and Cornwall before attending Harper Adams Agricultural College. He reported
to Norton Barracks for National Service in October 1955 and was commissioned from Eaton Hall OCS into the Worcestershire Regiment on 4th August 1956. The Army became the central interest in his life. He
was seconded from 1 WORCS to 3rd (Kenya) Bn King’s African Rifles between September 1956 – August 1957. Deemed too old for a Regular Commission he immediately joined the Territorial Army and spent 9 years as a Lieutenant and Captain in the Suffolk Regiment and Somerset Light Infantry, while qualifying
as a Veterinary Surgeon at Bristol University in 1964. After practising
in Blandford, in December 1966 he gained a Regular Commission in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC).
Initially based at the RAVC
Depot, Melton Mowbray, he was first posted to Singapore 1968-
70 where he commanded both
a Ghurkha Dog Company and a
unit of Chinese and Indian troops attached to the Singapore Guard Regiment. He returned to Melton Mowbray to be both Adjutant and Veterinary Officer and in 1971, he was suddenly posted to Oman for the Dhofar Campaign attached to 22 SAS; an experience of great interest and intense activity that saw him awarded an MBE in January 1973.
In stark contrast between 1973-75
he was posted to King’s Troop RHA in London. In early 1975 he was posted to Hong Kong where he commanded a Chinese unit attached to 48 Gurkha Brigade. He made
numerous visits to Nepal to advise
on Gurkha agricultural resettlement. On departing he was appointed an honorary life member of the Gurkha Brigade Association. Returning to UK in 1977 he served for three years as
a staff officer in the Veterinary and Remount Department of the Ministry of Defence, and was promoted to Lt Col. In 1980 he became Commander Veterinary Services, Northern Ireland, for three years before returning to Hong Kong as Chief of Veterinary Services. This tour was cut short as he was promoted to Colonel to be Commander Veterinary Services BAOR based in Sennelager. This was a time of consolidation of relationships with NATO colleagues and units in Germany and the foundation of the RAVC TA (BAOR) from British subjects’ resident in Germany. In 1985 he returned to Melton Mowbray as Commandant where he led the refurbishment
of the Army Dog Training School, reorganisation of the equitation training, initiation of a Home Defence structure for the county
of Leicestershire and development oftheRAVCTAintheUK.On promotion to Brigadier in May 1987 he was appointed Director Army Veterinary and Remount Services
at Aldershot. Over nearly 4 years he finalised dog training for all three services, developed Post graduate training for Veterinary Officers, particularly in the field of Public Health and initiated negotiations
for the incorporation of Veterinary Services as an integral component of Defence Medical Services.
He retired in December 1990. In January 1991, he was awarded CBE, Honorary Colonel Commandant RAVC, Honorary Colonel RAVC
TA and his existing appointment as Queens Honorary Veterinary Surgeon to HM, Queen Elizabeth
II was extended for a further
four years. In retirement, he was President North Curry Branch of the Royal British Legion and was County Chairman of Somerset Committee of Army Benevolent Fund, Member of Council Veterinary Public Health Association, Member of Council Comparative Medicine Section of Royal Society of Medicine, and a part-time Veterinary practitioner
in Taunton. He was also Honorary Senior Lecturer, Environmental Department, University of Leeds where his field of study was the impact of modern methods of agriculture on the environment and the sustainability of the UK soil into the 21st Century. In 2001 aged 69
he came out of retirement to assist with the Food and Mouth outbreak as a veterinary surgeon and found himself back in Worcestershire.
His two sons were commissioned into The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment and the Light Infantry respectively.
Letters of Condolences may be sent to: Mrs Lesley Durrant, 12 Portmans, North Curry, Taunton, Somerset. TA3 6NL.
Brigadier GR Durrant CBE FRCVS
Worcestershire Regiment/Royal Army Veterinary Corps 24th February 1932 – 11th May 2023
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