Page 131 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2019
P. 131

                                REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN)
 Fred drove the lead tank into the Liri Valley, in what was an at- tempt to find a route to bypass Cassino.
As the rainy season came on Fred, along with others, were trans- ferred to an infantry role. In late November, shortly after being reunited with his tank it was hit during a German attempted breakthrough. The driver’s hatch was blocked by the main ar- mament having been traversed over it. He was forced to bailout via the turret, which was on fire, receiving severe burns in the process and as the crew got 20 yards from their tank it exploded. Following an extended stay in hospital Fred eventually caught up with the Regiment at Taranto. Fred then ‘endured’ another spell in an infantry role. As the war in Italy came to an end Fred drove an armoured car into Austria. He found this troubling wit- nessing the disarming and then handover of Cossack troops to the Russian forces. Also, the return of Croat troops to Yugoslav forces and then the removal of Yugoslav troops from their illegal occupation of Austrian territory.
Post war Fred settled back into civilian life in Stratford East London where he was eventually employed by the Port of Lon- don Authority as a tally clerk checking cargo on and off ships. His wife, Edie, gave birth to their three children Kenneth, John and Julie. Fred enjoyed sketching, painting and photography which was his main hobby. He undertook commissions for wed- ding photography developing and printing the results himself. Later on, he secured a job as a photojournalist for the PLA mag- azine. This was his dream position, allowing him to meet and greet dignitaries and royalty alike capturing their visits on film and in words for monthly publication.
Fred always enjoyed annual reunion dinners in Blackpool at- tending until the final member of his wartime family (tank crew) passed away. He however, always followed regimental activities from the Vedette magazine.
in the command vehicle in front of a large map, reading Sport- ing Life, with a glass of whisky to hand and headphones on one ear. As soon as the radio crackled into life he was a changed man, issuing orders left, right and centre, always 100% on the ball. He was, for many years, a highly valued member of the RHQ team.
At work Iain was always immaculately turned out, as if on Cav- alry Memorial Parade, and was probably the last regular bowler hat wearer in the City. Popular with clients and colleagues alike, he was a stickler for good English. His young assistants were often sent away to correct their letters “That is a split infini- tive. You must learn...”. On another occasion, Iain had deployed his Latin skills to enforce a point in a letter to a client. To his immense chagrin, the client responded by correcting his Latin! On another occasion, he was noted to be in a particularly robust conversation on the phone. It transpired that he had just seen a photo of a riot at a football match on the front page of the Evening Standard and spotted that soldiers in the midst of it were wearing 9/12L uniform. He had immediately demanded to be put through to the Regiment, then in Osnabruck, and was berating the unfortunate Adjutant in no uncertain terms. Little wonder that he earned the nickname The Gallant Captain!
Iain was a keen racehorse owner, concentrating on National Hunt racing. He ran only homebred horses and, in a career span- ning over forty years, he had 187 runners of which 15 were win- ners and a further 70 placed, by any standards a remarkable re- sult for an owner/breeder and clear vindication of Iain’s patience and policy of always giving a horse plenty of time. He would always celebrate a winner with a glass of whisky: “...Annabel will have an orange juice. She is driving.” After Annabel and 9/12L, racing was definitely the third love of his life. He was a long time patron of the trainer Kim Bailey and happily, Annabel is continuing to support his yard with two horses.
Iain met Annabel Buxton in 1978 and they were married on 5th October 1979. It was the start of a wonderful life together. They travelled widely including trekking through the Himalayas, cruising round the Antarctic and sharing their love of fishing, in particular at Soval Lodge on Lewis and on the river Shin in Sutherland. He was always kind & generous. Over lunch one day his godson mentioned that he was going to India in his gap year. Afterwards, Iain called him into his study, got out his cheque book saying “I don’t like to think of a young man travelling on a shoestring”. The godson thought: if he was lucky £50, if really lucky £100. In fact it was for £1,500 which covered the whole trip with some to spare.
Iain and Annabel never had children. But, he took a great inter- est in his nephews and nieces, always wanting to know what they were doing, why they were doing it and encouraging them to do better. He was a much loved uncle and husband as well as an ever loyal 9th/12th Lancer. He will be sorely missed by the many whose lives he touched.
Iain Buchan born 13 April 1936, died 8th November 2019.
CAGP and HDGB
Col RIS Burgess OBE DL
Roger arrived at the Regiment in Osna- bruck just in time for the Christmas bunfights in late 1969. He led Troops in Berlin, Catterick and Detmold. He served with all the Sabre Squadrons in the Regiment. As a Capt he served in Detmold with HQ Sqn and C Sqn in in Omagh in the early seventies. RVS adds “Roger deployed to the Oman in late 72/73 and was launched into operations in the Dhofar War as 2IC of an Omani company in the Jebel Regiment. Prior to
Capt IFW Buchan
RJB
Iain Buchan, soldier, scholar, stockbro- ker, fisherman and racehorse owner/ breeder was a kind and generous man of many parts.
After school at Fettes and National Ser- vice in the 9L, he went up to Oxford, reading law at Balliol, before joining City stockbrokers Grieveson Grant & Co in 1960, becoming a partner, on the private client side, a decade later. In 1988, he was the victim of an ill advised
 re organisation which cost the new owners of Grieveson Grant dear. After being made redundant; in his words: “The other ranks have taken over and sacked the officers!”.
Undeterred, he teamed up with some like minded friends. They were mainly from the old established firm of L Messel & Co, now discarded by their American buyers. They established the private client side of a new firm which they called NCL, short for Nivison Cantrade Limited. He remained there happily until his retirement in 1998.
However, as a bachelor, Iain’s first love was always the Regiment. He was proud to have served in the 9th, following in the footsteps of his brother Pat, 19 years his senior. Pat served with distinc- tion from 1943 to 1944 until killed by artillery fire at San Savino. Pat had been Iain’s role model and mentor, a terrible blow to the eight year old Iain, in his first term at prep school. Tragi- cally, he also suffered the loss of his father only a year later. After National Service he joined the Army Reserves, returning to his Regiment (now 9/12L) for the big annual autumn exercises. Iain was always welcome in RHQ. Typically, he would be seen sitting
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