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Lt. Col MDL Ingham
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Ingham died on the 1st April 2014, aged 83. He was mowing the lawn and after complaining of breathing was taken to his local A&E. He was commissioned into The North Staffordshire Regiment in 1949 and then served with
1st Malay Regiment in 1955 during the Malayan Emergency. His service continued as Adjutant of 6th North Staffords, then from 1958–61 he served with 1 Staffords
as MTO and Company Commander. After
a posting with the Trucial Oman Scouts, he went onto become Battalion 21C in Dover. His remaining service was mainly in North East District and he retired from the Army
in 1981 and lived in York. He was clearly a much liked officer as various people who knew him, all claimed that he was a lovely guy. He admitted himself that as he was never a ‘yes man’, he would not go far. He married late in life to Jane and they had three children; Amanda, Patricia and Colin. There was a family cremation, followed by
a memorial service at St. Michaels Church, Stillington on 19th April 2014. This was followed by a reception in the pub across the road (this was the instruction he left) and this was how he wanted to be remembered.
Christopher Ling
Chris Ling died in Coventry in the early hours of 1st January 2014. He enlisted in 3rd Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment
in Tamworth in March 1999. This became The West Midland Regiment the same
year. In 2001 he changed his service to FTRS and served with 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and took part
in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. According
to his records, he continued serving with the MPGS in Lympstone, was a storeman with 3rd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Staffords) in Tidworth in 2008 and was part of the MPGS guard force at Donnington when he died. His funeral took place at Streetly Crematorium, Walsall at 1400 hrs on Friday 31st January.
Jack Mansell
Jack Mansell served with 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment was with them on Operation Market Garden in Arnhem. His funeral took place at Sandwell Crematorium on 22nd November. Despite the relatively short notice, there was a decent turn out at his funeral and five Branch Standards were paraded in his honour.
John Walter Lowe
John Lowe was born on 7th November 1929. He is believed to have served with The South Staffordshire Regiment from 1946–54 and was in Korea. His funeral took place at St. Paul’s Church, Tipton on Monday 14th April 2014.
John McBain
John McBain died on Monday 27th January 2014. He served in the late 1940s and
early 1950s, initially with 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment and then after
the merger with the 38th Foot, he served with the new 1st Battalion. He left the Army and had a long and successful career in insurance and settled near Ipswich. His funeral took place on Friday 14th February at Ipswich Crematorium.
Brian Robinson
Brian Robinson who came from Wednesbury died in the summer. He was born on 22nd October 1936 and served with 1st Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment in the Canal Zone and Cyprus. We understand that he reached the rank of Corporal. His funeral took place at Newton Road Crematorium, West Bromwich on 28th August 2014.
Sydney Onions
Sydney Onions from Pelsall was born on 29 March 1932. He served from 190 – 2 and then served in the Territorial Army
until 1962. He was a much liked member of Walsall & Bloxwich Branch of The Staffordshire Regiment Association. His funeral took place on Friday 1st November 2013 at Streetly Crematorium.
Major Oliver Plant
Major Oliver Plant died
in Plymstock, Devon
in January 2014, aged 86. He was born on
1st November 1927
and attended Plymouth College. After completing basic training, he was posted as an Officer
Cadet to a transit camp where jobs were given to the cadets. He and a friend walked around the camp with a ladder calling
into canteens for cups of tea, apparently they got away without doing any work for weeks. Oliver was one of the last officer cadets to be trained in Bangalore, India before Indian independence in 1947 and was commissioned into The Devonshire Regiment in 1946. He was posted to Palestine as a Platoon Commander with 1/6th Queen’s Royal Regiment and then
to Salonika in Greece in the British Military Mission, followed by a posting to the 1st East Surreys 1947 as Company Second
in Command. He was based in a barracks with an antiquated heating system. One night he was woken up by the usual loud bangs when the windows began to rattle, he realised there were explosions outside. Communist guerrillas had got hold of a large gun and were shelling them.
In January 1948 he joined 1st Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment in the Canal Zone as Anti Tank Officer and moved with them to Trieste as MTO. Oliver had
a long spell in regimental duty as he was RSO in Korea and OC Support Company in Minden. After the amalgamation he was OC Headquarter Company in Kenya in 1964 and Dover. He also did staff appointments in Hong Kong and after completing a course in RMCS Shrivenham, became a weapons and trials specialist, finally retiring from the
Army in 1980. He married Marion and they had 3 children. Mac Mclean remembers an exercise in Luneburg when the mortar Platoon succeeded in landing two rounds into a local village fish pond. Oliver went
to placate the villagers and discovered a Wermacht car hidden in a barn, which was duly confiscated and with help from the LAD, returned to working order. It ended up in UK, where it lasted a long time. After he left the Army he was Owner/Manager of Devon Woodcrafts.
He was keen sailor and he arranged
many energetic family holidays. His military experiences were written up in a book, called Soldiers’ Tales’ which he wrote in 2004. Oliver never complained, if he ever
felt unwell, which was rare, he would use his patent cure of whisky and aspirins which he claimed could cure all illnesses. His daughter Gillian wrote a long obituary in which she wrote that her father was kind and cheerful and had wonderful sense of humour.
Edward Poxon
Eddy Poxon was born on 18 September 1936 and served with 1st Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment in Egypt and Cyprus in the mid 1950s. He was a member of Walsall & Bloxwich Branch of The Staffordshire Regiment Association.
Edward Thomas Penry Prosser
Pen Prosser died 17th November 2013. He was born and bred in Burg Hill, Herefordshire and served in both The Worcestershire Regiment and The South Staffordshire Regiment as a National Serviceman from 1947–9. His service included time spent in Palestine and he
left as a Corporal. After he left the Army he became a successful business man and ran his own tool business. He was also a generous supporter of local charities. His funeral took place on 29th November 2013 at Burg Hill Church.
Kevin Michael Ralph
Kevin Ralph died on 20th October 2013 aged 55. He was born on 29th December 1957. He served 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment and was known
as ‘Rhino’ throughout his Army service.
He served in C Company in the 18 month tour of Londonderry. He was in the Mortar Platoon and was later Assault Pioneers Sergeant in Gibraltar, Colchester and Fallingbostel. He served in A Company as a Platoon Sergeant during the First Gulf War.
After he left the Army he worked as a Scout leader. His funeral took place at St. John’s Church, Shenstone and the church was absolutely packed, with at least 300 people present. Pete Oliver read the eulogy which explained that he was a much loved Regimental character, which was proved by the enormous turn out at his funeral from Regimental friends, local scout people and his family.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE