Obits Dec 02 - Issue 99

Capt John Alan Legh Barratt TD, peacefully at home on 9 July 2002, two days before his 90th birthday.
The youngest of 7 children, John was educated at Gresham's, where he excelled at sport. He joined his father's stockbroking firm, becoming an equal half-partner in 1939. Enlisting in 4 Royal Norfolk after the Munich crisis in 1938 he went to camp with them at Falmer in July 1939. The late Major Gilly Banthorpe and Capt William Gaymer were also there. In 1941 the 4th Bn, via Gorleston, Hawick and Blackburn, were at Ross-on-Wye.
'I kissed Baba goodbye and walked out into the night to the railway siding where we entrained for Liverpool.'
It was the last John and Baba were to see of each other for 4 years.'
In Oct 1941, the Bn left Liverpool by boat, escorted by four-funnelled destroyers. Three days out in the Atlantic the American Navy escorted the convoy to Nova Scotia. This was 2 months before Pearl Harbour and as far as John was concerned the US was in the war by 1941. The SS Wakefield, a former luxury US liner, converted into a troopship, took them via Trinidad to Cape Town from where they were due to go to the Middle East. The 7 Dec 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour changed all that. Part of 18th Division went direct to Singapore while 54 Bde disembarked at Bombay. They went by train through Poona to a Training Camp. A few weeks later they rejoined the Wakefield, which had waited at Bombay and headed for Singapore.
After the capitulation on 14 Feb 1942 (the surrender and Cease-Fire was at 2030 hrs GMT on the 15th) he was a prisoner in Changi then Thailand and worked on 'The Railway of Death'.
John and his wife Baba had hosted the 4 Royal Norfolk Garden Party at Swannington for many years. He died two days after the Garden Party which he attended 'with a few of his 'railway friends' at The Manor House, Great Witchingham, the home of his son.
The turnout at his funeral was monumental. With standing room only at his funeral service, a privileged few wearing Royal Norfolk ties were ushered to the choir stalls.
His Army cap with Royal Norfolk badge, John's only souvenir of those incomprehensible three years in captivity in Thailand, took pride of place at the service in St Margaret's, Swannington.
The address was given by his nephew, Stephen Alexander.
'It was a house of fun. John was always interested on other people. Self-effacing, kind and warm hearted, he had a capacity to listen and inspire trust. John was great fun to be with and had a great sense of mischief. Known as 'Bunker Barratt', he loved golf and bonfires.'
With his passing that only leaves two surviving 4th Bn officers who went to Singapore, Maj Tom Eaton and Capt Mike Ashton.
A daughter Anita pre-deceased him and he is survived by his widow Elyned (Baba), children David and Charlie and four grandsons. JLR

(Quotes and the illustration of John Barratt July 1940, right, are from 'On His Majesty’s Service 1939-1945' by Capt John Barratt TD.)

See B&C 95 Dec 00 - 4th Bn Garden Party 2000 and 4th Bn Garden Party 2002; B&C 96 Jun 01 - 4 Royal Norfolk Regimental Association Dinner Apr 01 and The King takes tea and coffee.
B&C 99 and 100

Afternote Oct 03: An observation at the funeral by his nephew, Stephen Alexander: ‘John sold his bible in Changi but in retrospect realised the shrewd would have sold each page separately - for cigarette papers!’
B&C 101

Capt Len Brazier on 10 Nov 2002 aged 87. Enlisting in 1933, Len served primarily with the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 9th Bns until retiring in 1954. He was in India from 1934 until 1947. The Late Capt John A Todd recalled in B&C 94 Jun 00 he last saw Len on Ballard Pier, Bombay, on 18 Aug 1947 as the SS Georgic sailed for England two days after the Independence of India. (See articles in B&C 88 Jun 97 and B&C 90 Jun 98 by Gordon Spong; B&C 91 Dec 98 by RJ Phelps).
Len and a few others had to remain behind as they had just had UK leave. Len also served on secondment with 2nd Gold Coast Regt RWAFF, 1 Bedfords in North Africa, as a Station Staff Officer in Hamelin and as Camp Commandant 53rd Welsh Infantry Division.
He was Adjt to a REME unit in Ware prior to service in Korea then with the British Military Mission in Greece in 1952.
The late Rev Maj Dickie Davies reported in the B&C that The North Norfolk Branch of the Burma Star Association closed in September 1996. ‘It was raised and kept going by the hard work of Len and his wife Eva.’
After two strokes, Len moved in 1990 to the RBL Halsey House in Cromer. Two RBL Standards and a bugler were present at the funeral in Sheringham where Maj Tim Chatting represented the Regiment. Len is survived by his widow Eva. JLR
B&C 99
Former 2nd Bn HQ MT Sgt, LC Dale, in North Yorkshire, noted with sadness the B&C 99 Dec 02 obituary, above, for Capt Len Brazier. ‘He was our MTO in 2 R Norfolk and took over the MT Section from Lt Molinari at Kuldana Camp, Murree Hills, above Rawalpindi. As well as a good MTO he was also a friend to us all in MT, always getting things done for the benefit of his men. The photograph, right, of Capt Len Brazier in his jeep at Kuldana Camp, Murree Hills, India 1947 is not of the best but still precious to me; the only reminder of a gentleman I was proud to have served under.’
B&C 100 Jul 03

Maj Doug Burch TD TEM on 25 Oct 2002 after a brief stay in hospital, aged 66. The attendance at his funeral on Tue 5 Nov at All Saints Church, Newmarket, was monumental. Afterwards in the Conservative Club many former comrades recalled Doug's ever-smiling mastery of everything he attempted. He is survived by his widow Babs and daughter Suzie.
Doug had been unwell for quite a while.
After National Service with the Northamptonshire Regt, then service with 5 R Anglian, in the latter part of his TA career Doug was the CSM of D Coy 6 Royal Anglian, HQ Coy CSM and MTO and finally QM (V).
In the latter post he served with Regular QM Maj Stan Bullock MBE R&Y. His eulogy is below.
They had both joined the Cadets in Newmarket at the age of 12 in 1948 'having convinced the ACF we were something special.'
On retirement from the TA Doug rejoined the Cambridgeshire Cadets!
In the early 1980s this newly appointed OC HQ Coy 6 R Anglian relied heavily on Doug's long experience and we rejoiced in his skill at coaching the HQ Coy shooting team to great success in the Bn SAAM and at EDIST. He was a fine colleague, a good friend, a superb soldier and a most consistent attender at the 6 R Anglian Officers' Dinner Club. I cannot ever recall seeing Doug without a smile on his face.
Above is Doug in typical pose at our last Dinner in March 2002 at: www.majordisaster.fsnet.co.uk/6_ranglian_dinner_02/set_3.htm
I went with Tony Ground, my former 2 Thetford (Destroyer) Pl Sgt and Offrs Mess Steward. Although early, every parking place within half a mile was full so we parked at a motel and walked. A motorist was asking a traffic warden about parking and I heard his response: 'It's obviously an important funeral so ignore the yellow lines but don't cause an obstruction !' We were over half way so continued on foot. Already, the large church was packed with standing room only. JLR
B&C 99
Maj DP Burch TD died on 25 Oct 2002 aged 66. Dougie Burch, along with many colleagues and local lads, joined the 5th Bn the Cambridgeshire Regt Army Cadet Force in 1948 at the Newmarket Detachment based in Rayes Lane. He joined the Northamptons after being called up at Bury St Edmunds and being drafted across to join many other lads from the Newmarket area, he spent the majority of his National Service in Hong Kong. After his two years he was recruited into the 1st Bn the Cambridgeshire Regt by Sgt Stan Bullock, the then PSI, and for the period that the Bn existed went from rank to rank to become WO2. Dougie loved a challenge and with his gained experience on ranges took on the shooting mantle for the Bn and absolutely revelled in the task. His enthusiasm and determination was the driving force for many achievements for the Battalion’s shooting team and for the up and coming qualified instructors that Dougie encouraged as much as he possibly could. In addition to range work Dougie was also an MT man of great renown. By this stage he was well entrenched into Marshalls of Cambridge and a fanatical supporter of the DAF truck. Most of those in 6 Royal Anglian will well remember the MT WOs Bob Collinson and Spider Firth who were very impressed with this new MTO. Doug eventually won them over with his usual charm and smile. Dougie was appointed TA QM, a post he most dearly desired and when I joined the Bn as QM NRPS (not a real proper soldier) we once again became the team from 1948 (Cadets) and 1958 (TA Cambs). We enjoyed breaking windows with golf balls, my fault, and organising various dinners and barbecues as well as well as giving some Coy Commanders great delight in surprise visits that were all in the line of duty ! After retiring from the TA Dougie went to the Cambridgeshire ACF and again gave to them his expert knowledge of range work and competition shooting. by this stage Doug and his lovely Wife Barbara (Babs) had lost their very precious Daughter Debbie to cancer and Doug was diagnosed with leukaemia. During this period I have never seen a family so very devoted and so determined to hold firm. The Burch family were very proud of Douglas and his achievements both within the Armed Services and in his civilian life and everyone who ever made contact with him will remember him for his smile, his silver well groomed hair and his love of life. Maj Stan Bullock MBE

Shepherd William 'Repps 'Goodwin aged 80 on 12 Nov 2002. Known as Repps, he served with the 4th Bn. The Regiment were represented at his funeral at Repps with Bastwick by Majors Tom Eaton and John Housego.
B&C 87 Dec 96 carried the remarkable account titled: Changi - ‘The Queen - She's a good ol' sort’. On 9 August 1996 the EDP carried a full page article on a remarkable tribute in Repps Church to the memory of FEPOWs. In a boat you may have passed a riverside chalet at Thurne, bearing the name 'Changi' in large white letters, a Union Flag flying from a flagpole. It belongs to Bill Goodwin of Elm Tree Farm. He was with 4 Royal Norfolk at the capitulation and spent the rest of his war in a grim struggle to stay alive. ‘During my three and a half years as a prisoner I learned as much as some folk do in a lifetime. I learned about the things that matter. We only went where we were sent, but the fellowship .... that was wonderful, and that's what you remember.'
For the 50th Anniversary of VJ Day, Bill decided to recreate the Thanksgiving Service held in Changi on 27 August 1945, attended by 4000 allied troops and 16 Chaplains. On 27 August 1995 a service was held in Repps Church, attended by 450 FEPOWs and their families.
To make a lasting memorial Bill had a grand vision. ‘What better than a plaque made from wood from the Royal Estate at Sandringham? I thought, why not write to the Queen? She's a good ol' sort. She'll help us.’
The response surpassed his wildest dreams, ‘Not only has the Queen given us the wood, but she has paid for the whole plaque to be done, inscription an' all!’
Dedicated in Repps Church on 27 August 1996, the splendid gold leaf inscription on the oak plaque reads:
‘This plaque is to commemorate a service held in this church 27 August 1995. A replica of a Thanksgiving Service held in Changi Singapore on the 27th August 1945 for the release of POW and remembrance of all who died and suffered in POW camps. Go with God.’ JLR
B&C 99
Repps Goodwin aged 80 on 12 Nov 2002. (Further to the obituary, above, in B&C 99.) Over 200 mourners attended the funeral in the small church of St Peter and St Paul in Repps, filling the church, with a number standing outside. ‘Repps’ is the name he is called affectionately by his Old Comrades in The Royal Norfolk Regiment. Born on 22 Jan 1922 he was only 17 at the outbreak of War in 1939 and at the Fall of Singapore he was only 20.
Three and a half years as a POW of the Japanese left a mark for life on Repps. It was reflected in many ways but above all by his friendship and fellowship with Old Comrades. As a POW he suffered badly from Changi Feet, caused by vitamin deficiency. It was very, very painful, so painful that sleep was well nigh impossible. Night after night, whenever he could, Repps walked in the camp to ease the pain. He seldom, if ever, complained, hiding his pain by amusing others. He set a fine example of the FEPOW motto: ‘To keep going the spirit that kept us going.’ Repps was a courageous man while helping his comrades laugh when times were grim. That sense of humour remained with him, mischievous and in other ways to the end. Repps has been a life-long friend of mine, as he has been also to many others. We shall miss him greatly.
When the RBL was founded after the Great War, one of their brochures contained lines from a poem by Adam Lindsay Gordon. They are as true today as they were then and conclude this tribute by quoting them.

Question not, but live and labour
Til yon goal be won.
Helping every feeble neighbour,
Seeking help from none.
Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in your own.

Tom Eaton
B&C 100 Jul 03

Maj John H Howard on 13 Aug 2002, aged 84. John served with the 5th Bn before and during WW2 until 1940, then with 2nd Bn and 4th Inf Bde HQ 1940-1943 and ultimately 4th Bn 1951-1960, where he commanded C Coy. A member of the 2nd Bn Officers' Kohima Dinner Club, he wrote the fascinating article in B&C 86 Jun 96 ‘9 out of 10 Norfolks there had been killed by Jiffs’. B&C 94 Jun 00 carried a 1952 4th Bn photograph showing John at an O Group. In his later years, plagued with Parkinson's Disease, John was interested in Humanism. The Eastern Daily Press tribute was titled ‘Solicitor loved the theatre’. A well respected and senior partner of one of Norwich's law firms has died at the age of 84. John Howard, who was born in Norwich and was a pupil at Norwich School, had planned a career in international banking but on the outbreak of war in 1939 he enlisted with the Royal Norfolk Regiment. Following the war, he become a Major in the local Territorial Army and decided to enter the legal profession. He eventually became a senior partner for Cozens-Hardy and Jewson. As a theatre enthusiast Mr Howard was a member of the Norwich Players and acted in a number of plays at the Maddermarket Theatre. It was during a production in 1948 that he met his future wife, Janet Balderston. His son, William, described his father as ‘mildly eccentric’ and said: ‘He loved to dress up theatrically. He was delighted when his appointment as Under Sheriff of Norwich allowed him top hat, tails, coat and a long stick like a snooker cue as a badge of his office.’ Mr Howard battled with Parkinson's disease for six years. He is survived by Jan, Bill and Sally.
With acknowledgements to the EDP and Bill Howard

(See B&C 86 Jun 96 ‘9 out of 10 Norfolks there had been killed by Jiffs’ and B&C 94 Jun 00 photograph of the 4th Bn in 1952)
B&C 99

Afternote Oct 03: At the Service of Thanksgiving, Elizabeth Armstrong, a lifelong friend, thought John would now be exchanging with Sam Hornor (d Jul 98, obit in B&C 91 Dec 98) ‘tales of their wicked youthfulness and war stories.’
The service sheet concluded: ‘At John’s request we shall leave the chapel with our heads held high, listening to the Royal Norfolk Regimental March, Rule Britannia.’
John had many loves apart from his family and his business as a lawyer. Among them were amateur dramatics, collecting eccentric ties and waistcoats, writing and sailing. A fiercely competitive yachtsman in his ‘Grizzled Skipper’, John’s ashes were scattered on The Norfolk Broads.
He placed Jan’s excellent fish dishes into 2 categories: 1. Deserved wine. 2. Needed wine.
(John’s father was with 1/4 Norfolk at Gallipoli and his son Bill served with 1 R Anglian 1983-92. Ed.)
B&C 101

More to follow.

Maj Peter Beck CVO on 17 May 2002, aged 92. Educated at Gresham’s, Holt and Magdalen College, Cambridge, Peter enlisted in 1939. He was posted to the 1st Bn in Bangalore in 1940 from where they moved in 1941 to Ashstead, Weybridge and Wimbledon. Adjt to the 1st Bn 1941-42, Peter attended No 9 War Course at Camberley. Later he was Bde Maj of 25th Tank Bde (not 35th as the Times obituary had it) of 79 Armd Div. Subsequent appointments were as Bde Maj 1st Tank Bde 1942-44 and GSO 2 WAC (I) Staff College at Quetta.
He was Headmaster of Cheam Preparatory School when HRH Prince Charles attended. Years later, the Prince met Peter’s son Philip and recalled: ‘Yes, I remember your father well. He caned me twice for ragging.’ The Times obituary carried the by-line ‘Headmaster who caned Prince Charles - twice’.
Peter was appointed CVO in the year that Charles moved on to Gordonstoun. In 1946 he married Anne Frances by whom he had a son and daughter. JLR with acknowledgement to The Times.
B&C 99 and B&C 100

George Reed MM on 4 November 2002 aged 72 years. He received an immediate award of the Military Medal for his action on 24 July 1952 during Operation Cromer, Korea (23-24 July). The Britannia, Issue 40, carried:. 'It was during this action that Pte Reed won his MM. When ordered to withdraw, Pte Reed who was a Bren-gunner, had fired the majority of his magazines; seeing a party of enemy coming up the hill, he picked up his Bren and firing it from the hip, he charged down the hill towards the enemy, putting them to flight. It was undoubtedly due to this heroic act that the remainder of the party were able to withdraw without greater casualties. Pte Reed's action is all the more commendable in that he was due to return to the UK on the very next ship.'
His funeral at St Nicholas', Kings Lynn, was attended by representatives of the Regimental Association and the British Korean Veterans Association. John Denny
B&C 99

5962044 Ken Wilby, a D-Day veteran, of Cleckheaton, W Yorkshire on 15 August 2002. Ken was serving with 1 R Norfolk during the battle of Kervenheim on 1 Mar 1945 and distinguished himself in the leading assault platoon. ‘… over open ground in the face of heavy spandau fire from paratroopers making a suicidal last stand. Time and again Pte Wilby, although himself under devastating spandau fire, directed his LMG and neutralised the enemy long enough for his Pl to gain their objective. Had it not been for Pte Wilby’s indifference to danger, skill in locating the enemy fire and accuracy in retaliating, this would not have been possible. Later that afternoon, during a most determined enemy counter-attack, the enemy advanced with fanatical fighting spirit, armed with spandaus, machine-pistols and bazookas. Pte Wilby opened up on the bazooka team and with complete steadiness directed his fire against the remainder of the force and by the casualties he inflicted it was broken up. Through considerable and consistent difficulties Pte Wilby maintained his gun in action and directed its fire so ably that, having first shot his Pl on to its objective under the most hazardous conditions, he then kept them there by the disruption of the enemy counter-attack force. His bravery throughout, and his example to the remainder of the Pl was of an extremely high order. (Paraphrased from 1st Bn The R Norfolk Regt War History by Col Humphrey Wilson. Ed.) The effects of Ken’s WW2 service resulted in his receiving periodic treatment over a number of years. Ken spent the last months of his life receiving treatment. He had 7 children, 17 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. Bill Holden MBE
B&C 99