9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2000 - Page 0088
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2000 |
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REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9th/12th ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) 87 Obituaries In civilian life Len was employed as a credit controller by Ridgeon’s, a family firm supplying building materials. One of the happiest periods of his life was when the Regiment was stationed at Wimbish. He was made an honorary member of the WOs’ & Sergeants’ Mess, and with his wife, Pam, he spent many happy hours reminiscing with friends. He was a kind and generous man and one of the last of a dwindling bunch of pre- war Lancers. We extend our sympathy to Pam in her sad loss. D73 Major JFL Robinson MC MFH ., m". 4’ rancis Robinson was one of several excellent officers hand picked by Andrew Horsbrugh Porter to come with him from the 27th Lancers on taking Command of the 12th in Austria in the summer of 1945. He had gained his Military Cross in a successful action involving stalking and destroying gun positions and Andrew was not the sort to “hand out these with the rations”!! Back with the Regiment at Barnard Castle, as a Yorkshire man from just over the border, he was thoroughly “at home” and was fortunate indeed to meet and win Ann; to whom and their family we send our deepest sympathy. They went out to Malaya for the Regiment’s full three year tour at Ipoh where Francis, being very competent technically was a highly efficient Signals Officer and a strong and forceful player in the regimental polo team. On return to UK he spent 3 years as Training Major at Hadrians Camp, Carlisle before deciding to retire in 1957. After 18 months learning the intracies of arable farming, he bought the fine Normans Farm at Bilborough, South West of York, increasing his acreage in due course and becoming a high- ly successfiJl “Barley Baron” with an excellent “Shoot”; a Master of the York and Ainsty South Foxhounds and a Church Warden. On handing over to his son he was taking immense pleasure introducing numerous grandchildren to country sports. Francis had an impish sense of humour and enjoyed playing “The Blunt Yorkshire man”. He would come out with some outrageous state- ment designed to infilriate but if you paused before exploding you would observe his smile and realise he was only ‘taking the mick- ey’ and be able to join in the filn! The enormous attendance at his funeral at Bilborough Church was ample evidence to the esteem and affection in which Francis was held. A]CK Andrew Miller Mundy ndrew Miller Mundy joined the Regiment in 1963 as a Short Service Officer when the regiment moved from Aden to Osnabruck. His father had served in the 12th Royal Lancers during the War so it was only natural for him to follow in his father’s footsteps. However, peacetime soldiering in Germany in the ‘60s was not Andrew’s style and with the opportunities for more adventurous postings declining he left at the end of his engagement to make his way in civilian life. During his time with the British Army of the Rhine he became a very popular officer. This was not so much because he did a disproportionate number of duties after yet again having incurred the displeasure of the Adjutant, but more because of his kindness and his ability to keep the Officers’ Mess larder stocked with venison and game. His constant companion was a goshawk who would swoop at an unsuspecting Pekinese mistak- ing it for a rabbit much to the joy of his brother officers. Andrew was a country person at heart. He moved first to the Isle of Sarp and later when he married, to Lewis. As a very keen shot and sportsman he had an eye for all wild life and made some first rate paintings of the birds of prey on his beloved islands. When a bird was injured and there was hope of recov- ery he would nurse it back to full health before releasing it back into the wild where it belonged. He was elected to the Invernesshire County Council. He repre- sented a community of crofters and fishermen who were main- taining a life not too dissimilar to that of their forefathers and who preferred to continue in this way. He saw it as his duty to act as their voice in a society whose values hadbecome more and more materialistic. Although those serving on the Council with him held similar values these were not shared in Government bodies further afield. Sadly he died at a comparatively young age by his own hand. He had been suffering from ill health and no doubt saw his way of life diminishing rapidly. Our sympathy and best wishes go out to his wife Bridget and his family. Pa/nt/ng by Andrew M/Her Mundy |
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