Page 129 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

OBITUARIES
It is with regret that we record the deaths of former Officers and Members. They will all be missed and to their families, we hope that these few words will provide a lasting remembrance.
Officers
Major M L (Michael) Veillard-Thomas
Major B (Bryan) Connor Major A R (Alexander) Trotter CVO
J H (Johnny) Trotter Esq Brigadier M L (Michael) Barclay A F (Andrew) Shankland Esq Captain A (Arthur) Blair
Edinburgh and East of Scotland
Mr G A (Glenn) Nuttall
Glasgow and West of Scotland
Mr G (George, Lefty) Wright Mr I (Ian, Sparky) McIntyre Mr J H (John) Gerrard
Mr C (Colin) McKerrell
Mr C J (Colin) Park
Mr R M (Robert, Ruby) Currie
North West of England and Wales
Mr R (Raymond) Clark
Mr M G (Michael, Mike) Jones Mr J R (Bob, Chester) Price
North East of England
Mr T W (Tam) Peat
Mr G (Graham, Happy) Walters
London and South East of England
Mr A F (Arthur) Freer
Mr T (Terence) Lepper
Mr R S (Bob) Richardson
South West of England
Mr J (James) O’Keefe
Mr P (Peter) Gower
Mr E (Ernest, Ernie) Atkinson
Musicians, Pipes and Drums
HQ
Captain W D (Daniel) Dane Mr K (Kevin) Clarke
No Branch Affiliation
Mr P G (Peter) Livingston
Mr S (Stan) Grewar
Mr C (Craig) McClusker
Mr D (David) Owen MBE DL Mr A (Anthony) Evanson
Mr W (Williams) Stevens Mr G O (Gwilym) Williams Mr C (Colin) Crosby
Mr A (Archie) Cruickshanks Mr J W (John) Houghton Mr A (Arthur) Kendall
Brigadier Michael Lovat Barclay
Born in Epsom in 1932, and an only child, Michael Barclay grew up in the Sevenoaks area and attended Sevenoaks Grammar School. His 6th form turned out to be notable, having been made up of mainly future High Court judges.
After school he was conscripted for National Service and was commissioned into The Gloucestershire Regiment which was in Korea. He got there by sea arriving just after the Battle of Imjin River where the Gloucesters were tasked to hold a position to cover the Commonwealth Brigade withdrawal. They had suffered very heavy casualties and as a result were quite quickly withdrawn and were relieved by 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh. Elsewhere in the line the Kings Own Scottish Borderers where relieved by 1st Battalion the Royal Leicestershire Regiment. It was this battalion Michael was posted to. They dug-in to assume a long period of defence during which
they experienced many attacks by poorly equipped Chinese and North Korean forces including the battle of Maryang-san. The attacks all failed, despite the apparent overwhelming numbers and the attackers sustained heavy casualties. They left behind their dead in ‘No Man’s Land’, but it was too dangerous for the Leicesters to remove the bodies as the enemy covered the area with fire. In winter, it snowed on many days and froze at night so the dead were ice-covered, but in summer when the thaw came the stench was terrible and the rats came in their plagues to feed off the rotting bodies. His pistol shooting improved by shooting the rats who even outnumbered the enemy. In this first year he converted to a regular commission ending up being rebadged to the Leicesters. He had had a tough start to his career.
In 1961 he was posted to Sandhurst as an instructor, where he joined Tim Allen’s company as a platoon commander. It was Tim who persuaded him that his future would better if he transferred to the 3rd Carabiniers, as the Leicesters were not offering him much in the way of rewarding and exciting jobs, despite him having passed the Staff College exam. Whilst at Sandhurst the future Sultan of Oman was
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