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ST EDWARD’S
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V A L E T E
O B I T U A R I E S
we were all trained to reins at
an early age! During the day
the Ayah looked after him and
brought him down at tea time
so he could play. Before he
appeared all the valuables were
moved, he was then fastened
to a sturdy piece of furniture
and only his toys put in reach.
We all know he loved gadgets
and he was obviously curious
about how things worked,
even then!
By this time Pop had been
declared missing presumed
dead. Initially I think Mum tried
to get a boat home but then
stories came back that the
Suez Canal had been closed
which meant a long voyage
around the Cape of Good
Hope and there was a danger
of being sunk. So other plans
were made. Luckily, Mum
had a distant cousin with a
tea plantation in the South of
India, and it was arranged for
her to go there. The dampness
and warmth here made older
children grow tall and lanky
and not very strong! According
to locals, my brother obviously
hadn’t heard the lanky and not
very strong bit!
It was here that Moppy
started receiving postcards
from Pop to say that he was
alive. In 1943 it was decided
it was safe enough to try
and return home to England.
They were the first ship to get
through the Suez Canal after it
had been reopened. So quite
a character-forming start for a
young man. They returned to
Helme Lodge, Kendal, Mum’s
family home. Richard was five
by then, and attended the
kindergarten. A year later, after
Pop had returned from the
war, they moved down to Fleet
and then Deepcut in Surrey
where they lived opposite
the guardroom and Richard
used to escape there when in
trouble. He attended the army
school, in Mum’s own words
“Progress at none of these
schools was spectacular” and
he also became a gang leader
at Deepcut (showing early
leadership skills!). So he was
sent off to Primrose Ware’s
school near York aged six-and-
a-half, then Packwood Haugh in
Shropshire.
We went to live in Germany
and Richard and Rachel would
fly back to England to attend
school. Rich used to look after
his sister, but they also had an
array of universal aunts who
would stick luggage labels in
their lapels like Paddington Bear
and point them in the right
direction! Whilst in Germany,
Richard encouraged Rachel to
run away with him, after they
had some disagreement with
their parents, they filled pillow
cases with food and went off
to visit their friendly batman in
the guardroom. They bribed
him not to tell their parents but
unfortunately Pop was in charge
of his regiment, so they ended
up back home!
Then to St Edward’s, Oxford
where he was in the School
1st VIII, winning the Princess
Elizabeth Cup at Henley in 1958
and getting enough A levels to
get him into St Andrew’s to
study Philosophy, Politics and
Economics.
After Henley the school
crew were invited over to
Scandinavia to race, and they
were all made lifetime members
of a rowing club. The only
story I had was that they were
locked in a room with beer and
weren’t allowed out until they
had finished it. It was perhaps
then that he was made an
honorary life member of the
club!
Years later he invited
Gwyneth and me down to
Henley. His old crew were
all still alive and they were
going to relive their Henley
experience. They duly took
to the water and proceeded
down to the start. I think
the race record is just over
six minutes, by the time they
returned to the finish what
seemed like an hour later, we
were all dying of hunger, but
honour had been satisfied,
they finished the course, and
were all still alive!
When I arrived at St
Edward’s after he had left, I
was told, “Oh yes I remember
your brother! He is the only
man I know who could eat a
loaf of bread at a sitting!”
Whilst attending St
Andrew’s, as well as his
degree, he received a half blue
for squash and I think was also
Captain of the team. I played
him one day, he would be
about 20 and I was 12. I was
obviously soundly thrashed.
After St Andrew’s it was down
to London where he started
training as an accountant with
Pannell, Fitzpatrick, Graham
and Crewdson under the
guidance of Michael Howard.
This is where he met his
future wife Catriona, who
has so lovingly supported him
all these years. They were
married in 1968, and they
became the proud parents
of Richard and Sarah, and
later were much delighted in
the role of grandparents to
Josephine and Robert.
PICKARD
– On 1st
September 2016, Geoffrey
Pickard (G, 1938-1941). The
following obituary has been
taken from
The Telegraph
:
Geoffrey Pickard, who has
died aged 92, was awarded an
MC in 1945 during the Italian
Campaign. In February 1945
Pickard was commanding a
troop of “B” Squadron 56
Reconnaissance Regiment
RAC (56 RR) on Salara Ridge,
south-east of Bologna. On the
evening of 7th February, having
taken over an outpost in a
ruined house well forward of
his own lines, he led an ambush
patrol half a mile behind enemy
lines. They spotted a dozen
Germans moving along the
west side of the ridge and a
machine gun, firing down a gully,
gave them some unpleasant
moments before they returned.
In the early hours of the
following morning there was a
heavy concentration of shelling
and mortar fire on the house.
The ceiling collapsed and there
was a long burst of Spandau
fire. Everything went quiet for
a few moments and then men
were heard approaching along
a ditch. As they got close to
the house, a voice in English
shouted: “A Company, Two
Section. Don’t shoot!” But the
defenders had heard German
voices and one of Pickard’s
troop, who had taken cover
among the rubble, jumped up
and fired half a magazine in
that direction. The response to
this was a brilliant green flash
from a Panzerfaust: the high-
explosive anti-tank projectile
blew a hole in the rear wall,
burning some of the defenders
and much of their ammunition.
The Germans hollered: “Why
don’t you come out and
fight!” and a shouting match
developed between the two
sides. Armed with grenades and
sub-machine guns, the enemy
launched an assault into the gap.
They got within five yards of
the house before Pickard, who
had been wounded in the thigh,
manned the breach with a Bren
gun team and broke up the
attack. Fierce fighting lasted for
more than an hour but, despite
his wounds, Pickard moved
from post to post encouraging