| Capt Ray F Baldry, of
Sandy, Beds, in December 1997. He served with 1
E ANGLIAN and 1 R ANGLIAN. |
| Frederick Blyth, aged 75, of Thaxted, Essex on 18
Jan 98. He served with 1 Royal Norfolk during the
Normandy Landings. He is survived by his wife Doreen. |
| E Bunn, 4 Royal Norfolk, of Beccles, on 13 Feb
1998. |
| F Calver,
4 Royal Norfolk, of Loddon, on 23 Feb 97. |
Lt LA (Allan) Collins on
30 Sep 97 after being taken ill at his home in Mallorca,
Spain, following a long illness. Allan was in the
Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) before the outbreak
of WW2 after which he was commissioned into 5th Bn Royal
Norfolk Regt, serving as MTO. After the Bn was sent to
the Far East as part of 18th Division he became a
Prisoner of War in Singapore and Thailand between 1942
and 1945.
Tom Higgs, of Farmborough, Bath, wrote to say that he
and Allan were old friends: "both in 5th Bn The
Royal Norfolk Regt and in the bag together. We came home
from Singapore on the same ship and always kept in
touch. I am sure there will be many old members of the
Regiment, in East Anglia especially, by whom he will be
remembered. TW Higgs |
| Capt Arthur
R Cook, aged 85, after lingering
ill-health for many years, on 4 Apr 97. Born in
Southwark, London, Arthur enlisted in 1929 and was
serving as a Sgt in the Devonshire Regt in 1941 when he
transferred to the Royal Norfolks and was commissioned.
Wounded at Dunkirk, he served in Burma until the end of
the war and was then posted to London. After leaving the
Army he worked for GPO telephones for 30 years until
retiring to Wales where he owned a family-run country
Guest House in Aberporth, Cardigan. He is survived by
his son, daughter and step-daughter. |
| Billy Hunt, aged 101, on 1
Dec 97 at Cranmer House, Fakenham. He served with 1
Norfolk at Ypres, Somme and Paschendale and with the 2nd
Bn in India in 1920. He had many a tale of life in
Canada on a prairie farm in the early 30's and of the
lot of a gas mask warden in WW2.
JLR |
| JE Lovewell of Norwich,
aged 74. Enlisting at the Depot in 1942 he underwent
Initial Training at West Lines. He served with
8 R Norfolk in Lincolnshire before joining
1 R Norfolk at Carrowbridge, Scotland early in
1943. He served with the Bn in Normandy until wounded at
Sanneville, returning to England on 21 Jul 44. |
Capt RHE (Bob)
Luscombe on 17 Aug 97 aged 77. Bob had a
full and varied military career starting with his
joining 4th Bn Royal Norfolk Regt (TA) in 1936, with
whom he was called up in 1939. From 1943 he served in
the Parachute Regt, after the War with the Royal Norfolk
Regt, including one year in Korea, and subsequently the
Essex Regt. He was commissioned as MTO then
Quartermaster in 3 E ANGLIAN in 1962, serving in
Ballykinler and Berlin. He completed his last tour with
HQ 2 DIV in Lubecke. He retired in 1968. Throughout his
Regimental career Bob was much respected as a man of
impressive stature and fine bearing, an outstanding
soldier and a Quartermaster of the old school. Those who
served with him will remember him as a fair and kind man
who was ever ready to advise, particularly those at an
early stage of their career.
On retirement Bob worked for many years as a successful
Bank Manager for Barclays but additionally became
actively involved in numerous organisations in the local
community in Sawston, Cambridgeshire. He was a
Churchwarden for many years, on the Parish Council, and
President of his local Bowls Club and 50 Plus Club. The
Regiment, his many friends, Joan, his wife, and sons
Patrick and Terry will sadly miss a kind and highly
respected man. |
| Capt Geoffrey G Peacock,
4 Royal Norfolk, of Salhouse Road, Rackheath, in Feb
1998. Geoffrey was a familiar figure for many years at
the 4th Bn Officers’ Dinner Club and at the 4th Bn Old
Comrades Association Dinner, with many tales of his
service. JLR |
| 'Dick' Peploe on 12 Nov 97
at Whitstable. A member of the London Branch, he
enlisted in May 1930 and served with the Royal Norfolks
until 1941, seeing service in India and in France with
the BEF. Dick was a bandsman and a member
of the Bn boxing team. Bill
Seymour |
| WO2 Alf Phillips, aged
74, of Kingsley Road, Northampton, on 25 Nov 97 in
Northampton General Hospital, after a short illness. For
some time he was Officers’ Mess Caterer at Dover
before embarking for Korea where he served with the
Royal Norfolk Regt. Alf was a Old Comrade of both the
Royal Norfolk and of the Northamptonshire Regimental
Associations. A generous contribution to Royal Norfolk
Regimental funds was made from donations at his funeral.
He is survived by his widow Joan and a daughter Arecia. |
| C Piper, 4 Royal Norfolk, of
Diss, Norfolk. |
| Capt Frank Powell, Jul
97, in South Africa where he and his wife Julie ran an
hotel. He will be well remembered by post-war 4 R
Norfolk members, a popular member of York Road and
Southtown Drill Halls. Maj Richard
Boulton |
| Diana
Straghan, widow of the late Maj PHL
Straghan MC, died at Salisbury on 20 Dec 97 after a
short illness. The funeral was at Codford, St Peter
Church, near Warminster.It was attended by many
relations and friends in the Royal Norfolk Regiment,
together with others who knew her well. The internment
was in the churchyard next to Peter, her late husband,
who died in Nov 92. Capt William
Gaymer |
| Maj
Russell L Twidle
MC, on 8 Sep 97, in South Africa. A very popular member
of the Bn, known as "Twid", he commanded a
company of 2 Royal Norfolk in France and after Dunkirk
he became Adjutant of the reformed 2nd Bn stationed in
Yorkshire. He was also Adjutant when the 2nd Bn went to
India.. He commanded B Coy at Kohima and was severely
wounded. Given up for dead, he was nursed in the open by
his batman, George Bartrum, and sent back to recover. He
later commanded 2 R Berks and went with them to
Mandalay. His MC was awarded in Burma. When the Bn were
stationed in Fairford, Gloucs, he married the manageress
of a local hostelry. They moved to Jersey and then to
South Africa. After his first wife died he re-married in
South Africa. He came to Norwich in May 1994 for the
50th Anniversary Kohima Dinner and met, for the first
time, his batman’s wife, Mrs
Bartrum. Capt Maurice J
Franses |
Maj Harold
J Walker DSO, of Sanderstead, Surrey, on
11 Oct 97. Jim Walker was aged 23 when he found himself
playing a leading role in an astonishing escape story
during the ill-fated battle for France in the summer of
1940. A member of the Artists’ Rifles TA, he was
commissioned as a 2 Lt and posted to 7 Royal Norfolk in
late 1939, shortly before leaving for France. Following
spells in front of the Maginot Line, the Bn was
withdrawn in the wake of the German breakthrough.
Separated from the bulk of the British Expeditionary
Force, the Bn was attached to 51st Highland DIV during a
fighting retreat along the Normandy coastline which
ended in capitulation at the tiny port of St Valery.
Hopes of rescue were dashed by the weather. Only a small
proportion got away, and none faced a more perilous
escape than Jim Walkers’ party.
Having waited in vain for evacuation, Jim searched the
mist-clad harbour only to find 2 fishing boats with no
means of propulsion. Both boats were used, and means of
slow forward movement were with the aid of shovels and
rifle butts as paddles. Jim was in charge of one boat
and a company commander in charge of the other. A
swing-bridge had to be negotiated at the mouth of the
harbour. This was accomplished by Jim’s boat but the
other was left behind as its mast was too high to go
under it. Urged to go on, Jim, assisted by the tide,
made for the open sea, passing the end of the jetty
which at that moment was hit by shell fire. Everyone
escaped injury but the Germans machine-gunned the boat
and hit it, but again, no one was hurt. By a stroke of
luck, a heavy downpour obscured visibility and they got
away. They were eventually picked up by the Destroyer
HMS Harvester and Jim Walker was Mentioned in
Despatches.
Jim later went as a replacement officer to the 43rd
Light Infantry. In the five-division assault through the
Reichwald State Forest on 8 Feb 44, the first objective
was the Branden-Berg feature, given to B Coy, 1st Bn
(43rd) Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry,
to capture. There could be no such thing as failure, as
the whole of 71 Bde were likely to pile up behind them
in atrocious weather conditions. Rain accompanied by a
mortar attack stalled B Coy only for a minute or two -
and off again they went with Jim Walker leading by
example.
Despite the opposition, the Branden-Berg feature was
taken together with 20 prisoners. A most important
tactical advantage had been gained, enabling the
remainder of 53 (Welsh) DIV to move forward. For this
action Maj Walker was awarded the Distinguished Service
Order.
Without doubt, Jim Walker’s fitness gained at playing
rugby in pre-war days at Eastbourne College and for
Combined London Banks has contributed much towards his
ability to lead men from the front. His post-war years
were spent as a Bank Manager with a passion for wood
carving and a commitment to his faith. Although close to
his original Regiment, he did not forget that special
relationship with the 43rd, and provided assistance with
photographs and narrative from his own archives when
approached.
(Further to the brief obituary in B&C No 89
Dec 97; by Maj David Taylor MC LI, from the 43rd
Light Infantry Association Newsletter, courtesy of Col
WD Flower TD.) |
|
B&C Norfolk Editor