Page 230 - Bugle Autumn 2014

OBITUARIES
BAINES. Major Basil Henry (Bill) Baines died in Shropshire, aged 86, on 11 March 2014.
Bill Joined The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in 1946 and was posted to The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in 1948, seeing service in the Malayan Emergency. He rose to be RSM of 1 HEREFORDS until commissioned in 1964. He returned to 1KSLI, serving in Mauritius and Plymouth until 1970 when he was posted as QM to 1RGJ in Celle. His service came full circle when he returned to Shrewsbury as QM until retirement in 1992. We offer our sincere condolences to his widow, Eileen, and to their son, Mark, and daughter, Lesley.
BEVAN. Captain Nicholas Vaughan Bevan
died, aged 71, on 12 Jan 2014.
Nick was posted to 1KSLI in 1964, serving
in British Honduras (now Belize), Shrewsbury, Malaya, Mauritius and Plymouth, retiring in 1969. He was a very talented oarsman, gaining a Rowing Blue at Oxford and, whilst teaching
at Shrewsbury School, took that sport as a coach through a Golden Age between 1974 and 1986 when the School First Eight were winners or finalists at Henley 11 times. We offer our sincerest sympathy to Nick’s widow Annabel and to his children Kate, Ed, Oliver and Emily.
CROCKFORD. Major Kenneth Harold Crockford MC died, aged 90, on 27 May 2014.
Ken Crockford enlisted in the General Service Corps in July 1942. The following year he was commissioned in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and was posted, as a platoon commander, in 2 HEREFORDS. He saw active service with 1 HEREFORDS, fighting as a platoon commander, and then as a Company 2IC,
in every battle in which the
Battalion was involved as it
advanced through France, Belgium, Holland and into Northern Germany. It was in early 1945 that he was awarded the Military Cross for leading his platoon in a daring frontal attack against an enemy Spandau position on the Schlieffen Line. After
the war he proved to be an invaluable asset on Regimental battlefield tours, giving graphic and detailed accounts of the various actions in which he had taken part and for which, in addition to the MC, he was subsequently awarded Chevalier
of the Order of Leopold II (with palm) and the Croix de Guerre (avec palme).
From February 1946 to May 1947 he served with 2nd Battalion The Devonshire Regiment in Germany (BAOR) as Intelligence Officer and Assistant Adjutant. He was appointed ADC to General Jack Churcher at Headquarters 5th Infantry Division in Braunschweig (BAOR) in May 1947. He held this appointment for nine months and kept in close contact with the General and his family for many years thereafter. There followed fifteen years in the Royal Army Service Corps, a period of his career which included deployment in Hamburg, Aldershot, Bordon, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Kuwait, Aden, Bahrain and the Oman. Subsequent service with the Royal Corps of Transport took him to Portsmouth, (HQ Maritime Group), Borneo (HQ 99 Gurkha Infantry Brigade), Singapore (HQ Far East Land Forces) and Bordon (Depot Battalion RASC).
After his retirement from the Army in 1969, Ken followed an active civilian career working for Save The Children Fund as Overseas Supplies Officer, UK Fundraising Controller and finally, until December 1988, Vehicle, Insurance and Executorship Manager.
Ken Crockford was a most engaging character and a man of seemingly inexhaustible energy. He was an enthusiastic cross country walker, gardener, photographer and philatelist. He made a significant contribution to a number of military history books covering the campaign in North West Europe (1940-45) and attended loyally numerous 11th Armoured Division and Regimental functions. His death, after some years of declining health, marks the passing of a fine soldier and a man dedicated to the welfare of others.
HUPFIELD. Henry Hupfield
died, aged 89, in hospital in Tunbridge Wells on 3 January 2014.
Henry joined 4KSLI but his
wartime service was short lived.
In late June 1944 he was shot at
point blank range by a wounded
German soldier who was still
armed. Before grimly bayoneting
his assailant Henry had already
suffered a shattered leg. After
being medically discharged from
the Army he went on to make a
living, first from stamp collecting
and then from manufacturing
various items from plastic mouldings, eventually employing a workforce of thirty.
We offer our sincerest sympathy to his widow, Josephine, and to their adopted children, Paul, Jonathan and Sara.
LING Mr Thomas William Morris Ling died on 25 June 2014, aged 70.
Tom Ling joined 1KSLI and then 3LI on re-organisation, leaving
in 1975. He spent the majority
of his service on the Officers’ Mess staff promoted in 1971 to Mess Corporal. During the eight years that he served there he was remembered with great affection and respect for his integrity and willingness to go that extra step
to ensure that the Mess was efficiently served. Our deepest sympathy is extended to his family.
SLADE Mr Wilfred Slade died in June 2014, aged 94.
He joined 1st Battalion the Hereford-shire Regiment in the late 1930s and was mobilised in Sep 1939. The Battalion landed in Normandy on D+6 and he took part in every major engagement in France, Belgium, Holland
and finally Germany where the HEREFORDS took part in the arrest of Grand Admiral Doenitz, Hitler’s nominated successor.
228 REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION NEWS
THE RIFLES