Page 88 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021 (Crest)

Major Richard McCormack MBE
Late Coldstream Guards
By Major Harry Bucknall formerly Coldstream Guards
Dick McCormack, who died of a heart attack aged 67 on 9th March 2021, not only rose to be Academy Sergeant Major, tradition-
ally the senior Warrant Officer in the British Army, but also had the unique privilege to be appointed Regimental Sergeant Major of both the 1st and 2nd Battalions respectively; a hap- penstance occasioned by Options for Change when, in 1993, all Foot Guards 2nd Battalions were placed in suspended animation.
Anthony Biggs, 2nd Coldstream’s last Com- manding Officer, commented on the immediate impact Dick made when he took over as Regi- mental Sergeant Major in February 1993, just as the effects of draw-down began to pinch across the Household Division. With eyes already focused on the Battalion as it prepared to troop its colour for the very last time, these were dif- ficult days requiring strong leadership and rigor- ous discipline to ensure standards were main- tained. As sentiment ran high, so manpower ran low. Within a few weeks, the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards were warned off for an emer- gency tour of South Armagh while, in Germany, the 1st Battalion began gathering up the levia- than organisation required to keep an independ- ent Armoured Infantry Battlegroup operational in war-torn Bosnia. Days later, Charlie Lomer, then Brigade Major, asked that the Battalion find a third guard for the Queen’s Birthday Parade.
After collective blanching, on our side, some rushed sums and sucking of teeth, we replied that we probably could manage it – if the Quar- termaster agreed to do barrack guard. Positive, unflappable and ever good-humoured, Dick McCormack was always at his best when faced with the seeming insurmountable – his skill, a deep-seated understanding of soldiery as he formed the dwindling Battalion close round him in preparation for the great day. There were no ‘Men in Readiness’ or ‘Spare Files’ and, giving his final talk on the evening before the parade, Dick made an impassioned, simple and heartfelt
plea to the Guardsmen, ‘please be here in the morning’. Nonetheless, it was with our hearts in our mouths that we retired – with every man taken, we would not have been able to fill a sin- gle gap the following day; no one let the side down.
Andrew Johnston, one of Dick’s former pla- toon commanders, observed that he was not an archetypal Foot Guards non-commissioned officer; a private character, he was a man of great integrity with a highly developed sense of humour and quick wit which reflected a consid- erable intellect. As such, Dick was an inspired choice to take over as Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, a matter of weeks later. Again, he was presented with the familiar herculean task, this time preparing for war while at the same time amalgamating two battalions into one. Not the moment for petty rivalries, Dick’s unambiguous leadership style was clear from the outset, echoing the message of Peter Williams, the Commanding Officer, that we were now ‘of one company’, the battle cry with which he deftly forged the new battalion together.
86 HISTORICAL