Page 151 - Chronicle Vol 17

of them had degrees in science or engineering! He didn’t enjoy that course and managed to stay away from technical matters until 1979 when he was made Head of Technical Intelligence.
Diana was born in 1964 at RAF Cosford and Alexia followed in 1966 at Tidworth. In 1967 he rejoined 1 KOYLI as D Company commander, the tour involved time spent at Tidworth and in Berlin. The CO was a fitness fanatic, the battal- ion marched everywhere. On one occasion the battalion was on the ranges at Sennelager, with one of the other company commanders he formed up to the CO refusing to march between ranges, pointing out that by the time they marched to Range B from Range A their range time would be up; they got away with it but the CO was not pleased.
After Berlin he moved to Winchester, with responsibility for Officers’ careers in The Light Infantry and Royal Green Jackets. From there it was back to Shrewsbury as Commanding Officer of the 5th Battalion of The Light Infantry Volunteers. Certainly not a job for the faint-hearted. Brian’s companies were spread from County Durham to Cornwall via the West Riding, Shropshire, and Somerset. Rarely did a month go by when he had not been to all the counties, by the end of the tour one can only assume he was very well-travelled.
It was after this that Brian went back to the Middle East, this time in Jeddah as Defence Attaché. It was during this “arduous and brilliantly successful” tour he was awarded the OBE in 1979 for establishing a unique rapport with the Saudi Arabian authorities, overcoming prejudice and breaking through bureaucracy. His remarkable perseverance and stamina were remarked upon. He presided over armament sales amounting to some £200m despite stiff international compe- tition. He was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order following a Royal Visit by HM Queen in 1978.
After Jeddah followed a tour in the Ministry of Defence, as a full Colonel as Head of the Technical Branch of the Defence Intelligence Staff. He was then posted to America as Head of the British Defence Intelligence Liaison Staff in Washington DC. (May 1982 to April 1984).
His final duty in the Army was Defence Attaché in Muscat.
After retiring, on the death of a brother officer he became Chairman of the KOYLI Regimental Officer’s Club; he regularly attended the York lunches with his wife Caroline. He was also a regular attender at the LI Club annual dinner in Piccadilly. He was instrumental in arranging the final KOYLI Regimental Officer’s Club lunch at the Travellers’ Club in 2018.
Since retirement in 1987, he worked with the Saudi Economic Offset programme, unofficially advising a member of the Saudi royal family, HRH Fahd bin Sultan.
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