Page 120 - MERCIAN Eagle 2021

118
CHISHOLM
Major Peter CHISHOLM died on 11 October 2021 aged 94. Peter served in the ranks for 226 days before being commissioned as a 2Lt in April 1946. He served initially with 4th Prince of
Wales Own Gurkha Regiment before being posted to the Depot of The Cameron Highlanders before moving to 1st Bn The Gordon Highlanders. He joined the 1st Bn The Sherwood Foresters on promotion to
Lt, in Goslar in April 1949 as a Pl Comd.
He was then posted to the Depot in Derby
in 1952 before becoming the Adjt of the
5th Bn in Derby early the following year. In September 1955 Peter re-joined the 1st
Bn in Sennelager, moving on promotion to special employment with Military Forces in Nigeria from April 1958 to September 1960. In October 1960 he re-joined the 1st Bn in Singapore as a Coy Comd before moving to the new Mercian Brigade Depot in Lichfield in 1963 as a Training Coy Comd. In mid-1965 he re-joined the 1st Bn in Munster in their new role as a Mechanised Bn within 6 Mech Bde as the Bn 2IC and saw the change from Humber AFV1611s to the then new AFV432. He then moved to Bordon as OIC APC Division at Bordon responsible for training officers and soldiers in AFV432 support. He was then posted to Beaconsfield as OIC
the AMIC Wing. There followed a period at the Defence NBC Centre at Winterbourne Gunner as an Instructor, then as Adjt of the Sennelager Training Centre before becoming the Training Major of 3 Armd Div and Sig Regt in Korbecke, near Soest in February 1979. Peter retired from the Army ON 25 December 1981
CLARKE
Dennis CLARKE of Derby died on 15 May 2021 aged 82. Dennis served with the Sherwood Foresters
CURTIS
Sir Richard CURTIS QC died on 15 October 2021 aged 88. He was commissioned from Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School as a 2Lt in 1953 and joined C Company, 1st Bn The Sherwood Foresters
in Derna, Cyrenaica. He left the Army after National Service in February 1955 and became a lawyer. He was knighted in 1993 as a High Court Judge.
DOLBY
LCpl Anthony DOLBY of Worksop, Nottinghamshire died in early 2021 aged
52. Anthony enlisted with 1 WFR in June 1985 and was discharged on 21 October 1989.
logistics and then found himself transferred to the Psychological Warfare branch of the Intelligence Corps. Following deployment in Sarafand, he was sent to Italy to take part in the Italian Campaign. It was for his service there, that Derek was awarded the BEM
‘in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Mediterranean theatre of war’. He discharged from the Army in December 1945.
EVANS
Lt Harold Evans, F Company Mercian Volunteers Home Service Force and a staunch member of the Worcester Branch of the WFRA and the MVRA, has sadly died.
FARRANT
Major Mark H L FARRANT died on 19 February 2021 aged 94. Mark left Eton as an Officer Cadet in 1944 and joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He transferred to
the Cheshire Regiment before joining the Sherwood Foresters Territorial Force on 24 August 1953 as a Lt and reached the rank of Capt on 1 November 1956. It is believed that he then moved to the Suffolk Regiment and the Duke of Cornwall Regiment and would have been promoted to Major during this time. It is believed that he served until the 1960’s when he was discharged.
FARRELL
Dennis Farrell, who was an ex WO2 of the 1st Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, died on 20th December 2020.
FLACKETT
John Flackett enlisted in 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment in Dover in January 1967. He served with the Battalion in Berlin, Bahrain, Sharjah, Dover (again), Osnabruck and Colchester.
In Osnabruck, John served with the Anti- Tank Platoon under Captain Dick Fennings- Mills and Colour Sergeant Glynn Ireland. They were the first battalion to operate the Swingfire anti-tank missile system. John served in North Armagh (1972), Derry (1974) and Belfast (1976). He was promoted and
in 1977 was an experienced Corporal. An officer, who had recently returned from an external posting, saw him and noticed that John walked with the look and presence of a Sergeant. So, it was not a surprise to him when he was promoted a few weeks later. John was deployed to Belize in 1977 as a part of a battalion spearhead deployment. He was promoted through the Warrant Officers’, Colour Sergeants’ and Sergeants’ Mess. His later service included being RSM of 3rd Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment in Wolverhampton. He was commissioned in 1994 and became Quartermaster of 1 STAFFORDS in Ballykinler in 1997. This
was followed by a posting to Headquarters 39 Brigade in Northern Ireland. In 2001 he was awarded the QCVS. He later served with 1 RGR and finally left the Army in 2004.
CONNOR
Maj David Dufley, ex 2 MERCIAN Vols, 3rd Bn Cheshire Regiment, Kings and Cheshire Regiment and 4th Bn Mercian Regt, died on the 21st November 2021.
EDGE
LCpl Andrew ‘Andy’ EDGE of Sandiacre, Derbyshire died on 21 September 2021 aged 61. Andy joined the 1st Bn 1 WFR on 9 August 1976 and served with B Coy in Belize, Germany, NI, Cyprus
and mainland UK. He was discharged on 12 November 1989 and held the GSM NI and UN (Cyprus) medals.
EDGINGTON
J W G Edgington of the Cheshire Regiment died on the 19th December 2020 at the age of 95.
ELEY
Sgt Derek Lewis ELEY BEM of Chapel-en-le-Frith died on 18 August 2021 aged 103. Derek enlisted into the 2/5th Bn The Sherwood Foresters in May 1939 and later the same year transferred to
the 1/5th Bn and on 18 November landed in Cherbourg with the British Expeditionary Forces. During the months leading up to the Battle of Dunkirk, Derek took over from the CSgt in charge of paying the men’s wages and was appointed Lance Sergeant. In May 1940, Derek (as part of the 1/5th Bn) joined the 51st Highland Division and returned
to the UK for a year. Towards the end of
this time, Derek was injured as a result of
an ‘unfortunate accident’ and missed his initial posting to the Far East with the Bn. Once recovered and fit for duties, Derek
set off with other Sherwood Foresters, from Southampton, for the Far East. However
by the times the ship had reached Bombay, Singapore had fallen and the Bn received
a signal to turn around go to the Suez Canal. In Palestine, Derek was dealing with
Ted Connor, ex REME 1 MERCIAN Vols, died on 13th December 2020.
COOPER
Mark Cooper, who served with the 1st Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, died on 3rd December 2020.
COTGRAVE
“Joey” Cotgrave, who served with the 1st Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, and a founding member of the Tranmere Branch of the CRA, died on 30th July 2021.
COTTERELL
Cpl Peter COTTERELL died on 27
October 2021. Peter served with the North Staffordshire Regiment and with 1st Bn Worcestershire Regt in D Company in Iserlohn in 1954-56. Peter was also the chairman of the Rugeley branch of the WFRA.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
DUFLEY