Obituaries

Former SSgt Brian Hobbs

Scribe: SSgt Scott Hughes

It is with a heavy heart that I must inform the Corps of the passing of Former SSgt Brian Hobbs, who passed away on 13 October 2020 at the age of 70 from a heart attack.

Brian joined the Corps on 4 January 1966, completing basic training at the Army Apprentice College in Arborfield and qualified as a Vehicle Mechanic. His first posting was to Bunde in Germany in 1968 until 1970 serving with 2 Div Regt RCT. From 1970 to 1972, he served with 27 Comd Wksp REME in Warminster before taking up a post with 1 Kings Own Scottish Borderers from 1972 to 1975, serving with them in Edinburgh, Berlin and Northern Ireland. Brian then went to SEME Bordon to attend his Upgrader Course before posting to 1 Fd Wksp in Bielefeld in 1976, until 1979. Numerous postings continued between Germany and the UK until his retirement in March 1990 at Chetwynd Barracks in Chilwell in the rank of SSgt.

Always with a dry wit and sense of humour he was loved and will be missed just as much by friends and family alike. Brian is survived by his wife Anne, sons Alan and Mark, daughters-in-law Hayley and Michelle and four grandchildren.

Arte Et Marte. Captain Dutton received his MBE, which had been in the 1967 Birthday Honours. Bill left ATDU Bovington in 1972 and went to 93 Vehicle Depot Workshop REME, Ashchurch, his final posting before retirement on 5 November 1974.

Following retirement, he worked in Iran, still working for the UK Government until he was forced to leave in 1979. Bill settled down in Shrewsbury where he continued to work as an independent engineer. In fact, he was an engineer all his life, being an early adopter of mobile phones and computers. In his later life, Bill was virtually blind and received much support from Blind Veterans UK, especially their Llandudno Centre, for which his family are truly grateful.

Bill died after a short illness with a small funeral service taking place on 17 November, after which his wreath was laid on Shrewsbury War Memorial. He will be greatly missed by his friends and family of three daughters, eight grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.

Major (Retd) William John Dutton MBE

Scribe: Maj Nicholas Gould

It is with sadness that I inform the Corps of the passing of Bill Dutton aged 95 on 5 November 2020.

Bill joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in May 1939 (B) aged 14 and he retired from REME in 1974. During the War, Bill worked on servicing Ack-Ack installations including Binley, Coventry (477 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery Royal Artillery) where he met Corporal Kate Croucher who became the love of his life. Bill went on to land on Gold Beach on D Day and spent the rest of the war in NW Europe. He returned to England in February 1945 to marry Kate. When talking about his experiences on D-Day and the time after, he commented on how strange it was for a young man just 20 to be responsible for some a lot older than him because he was a Regular and they were conscripts.

After the war he continued to serve at various Workshops in Germany, before going to Egypt with his family. I don’t know anything about his service there but there are many photographs showing his active interest in sport. Bill served at 9 Infantry Workshop REME, Famagusta, Cyprus 1956 to 1959. It was during this tour that he received the LSGC and was Mentioned in Despatches. On returning to the UK, Bill worked in Chepstow and Retford before going back to Germany and 4 Armoured Workshop in Detmold.

In 1967 the family moved to Bovington and in the following year,

Former Sgt Walter Stanley Grimsey

Scribe: Mark Sargeant, Secretary of Mid-Anglia Branch REME Association

I am very sorry to inform the Corps that World War 2 Infantry Veteran and former REME Sergeant ‘Wally’ Grimsey died after a long illness on 10 January 2021 at the age of 96.

Wally was from a large family - the eighth of 13 children - and they lived at Stoke by Nayland in Suffolk. The family moved to Boxted, near Colchester when he was eight. He left school at 15 and worked on a fruit farm for three years before he was conscripted into the Royal Scots at the age of 18 in 1943. Wally saw significant action in WW2. Following the Normandy landings he joined his unit in Holland to continue the advance into Germany. In one engagement his squad was hit by artillery fire and Wally was the sole survivor. He was taken to the battlefield Medical Station and bravely volunteered as a Stretcher Bearer, thinking he was fit enough to continue the fight. Sadly, he was not and collapsed due to his wounds soon afterwards and was evacuated to hospital to recover. Once fit, he rejoined a Battalion of Royal Scots in Egypt and finished his Regular Army service in Cyprus prior to being demobbed in 1946.

On returning home to Boxted and the fruit farm, he soon joined the MOD as a civilian mechanic with 36 Comd Wksp REME in Colchester, attending night school to increase his qualifications in his trade. This plan was successful and he was promoted to Senior Examiner Vehicle Roadworthiness in the Workshop. Subsequently, he was promoted once again to take charge of 48 Squadron RCT, responsible for maintaining all Colchester Garrison staff cars.

Alongside his civilian career, Wally joined REME TA in 1949 and served for 24 years in Colchester with 535 Sqn RCT LAD, reaching the rank of Sergeant. He married Daphne in 1950 and they had two daughters, Sheila and Angela. Sadly, Daphne died in 1991. Wally was a keen gardener, played bowls, was an active Freemason and a long-standing member of the Royal British Legion. He was a

founder member of the Mid-Anglia Branch of the REME Association and Branch Standard Bearer. Every year he was able to, he visited the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Bergen-OpZoom in Holland to remember his fallen comrades.

Wally is survived by his two daughters and grandchildren. He was always a cheerful man and remained so until the end. He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, his comrades from Royal Scots and REME TA, his work colleagues from the Colchester civilian Workshops and of course the wider Corps.

Rest in Peace Wally

Arte et Marte

Former Sergeant Reginald ‘Reg’ Bower

Scribe: Graham A Matthews, Secretary Lincolnshire Branch

It is my sad duty to inform the Corps of the passing of Reginald ‘Reg’ Bowers who died on 19 February 2021 at home in Hogsthorpe, aged 98 years.

Reg was born on 10 May 1922 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and was one of six siblings born to Doris and Charlie Bower. Reg attended school in Worksop and after leaving started work on the railways.

On the outbreak of war, he enlisted in the General Service Corps and then the newly formed Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. After completing his basic training, he was selected for specialist training, from which he was posted to the Far East, where he remained for the war years.

Reg never spoke about his service in the Far East but it is known that he served in several countries and at the end of the war was in Burma, having survived injuries and spent some time in field hospitals. He was then seconded to the Indian Army where he remained until 1947. He was given the choice of a transfer to the Australian Army or return to England and discharge - Reg came home.

Reg returned to civilian employment in Leicester as a Welder and in 1950 met and married Althea. They then moved back to Worksop where their daughter Michelle was born. Reg worked for the CWS Glassworks as a foundryman until he retired in 1986. They then moved to Chapel St Leonards in Lincolnshire.

Reg became a member of the Burma Star Association, serving as President for several years. He was also a member of the Royal British Legion, acting as a Welfare Visitor, and was an Associate Member of the Royal Navy Association. On formation of the Lincolnshire Branch of the REME Association in 2001, Reg became a founder member and remained a member up to his demise.

In 2011, his wife Althea died and his own health deteriorated. In 2013 he suffered a bad fall that caused him to be less mobile and unable to participate in Association Branch activities. Reg’s condition became progressively worse, making him housebound, and in January 2021 he suffered a further severe fall, breaking his right arm and right leg. When discharged from the Pilgrim Hospital, he returned home, where his daughter Michelle cared for him until, after a long and hard fight, Reg died.

Reg was a proud man, a family man and a gentleman. He will be missed but never forgotten.

On Wednesday 24 March 2021 at the Alford Crematorium, family and close friends attended a Service of Remembrance and committal where, under COVID-19 restrictions, last respects were paid to Reg. The Corps, Branch President and the Lincolnshire Branch were represented by the Branch Secretary, parading the Branch Standard. The Burma Star Association, with Standard, and the Royal British Legion were also represented. It is with great regret that I have to report the death of former Sgt Jack Wigley on 12 January 2021 aged 83.

Jack joined the Army Apprentices School, Arborfield in September 1953 (53B) as an Apprentice Tels Tech.

He enjoyed his time at Arborfield and excelled at many sports, in particular boxing, gaining significant recognition, passing out as A/CSM in 1956, when he joined the Corps.

He left Arborfield to what he claimed were really mundane posts in Oswestry, Rhyl and Liverpool and despite all his efforts couldn’t find a way out (he said they wanted to retain him for his boxing prowess) and throughout his career he successfully represented the Corps as a welterweight boxer, earning his Corp Colours.

His reputation and prowess as a boxer preceded him, wherever he served, earning him the nickname the smiling assassin.

Indeed, throughout his life he was never without a smile.

Sparked by a letter from his old Apprentice friend, Dave Checker, Jack applied for a PARA course and subsequently passed P Coy.

He joined 16 PARA Wksp REME, serving in Cyprus in 1958 and then Jordan.

On return from Jordan, he served with the PARA Workshop in Aldershot for the remainder of his service.

As an excellent all-round sportsman, Jack also excelled at football and in the 1963/64 season he was one of the 16 PARA Workshop/OFP team that had entered the Army Major Units Football Challenge Cup, a huge undertaking for a minor unit.

On 1 January 1964, the Workshop was mobilised on an emergency tour to Cyprus with 1 PARA Battlegroup, many arriving in Cyprus that same afternoon.

Two months later the Workshop, changed berets and took on the role of UN Wksp.

The OC, Maj (later Maj Gen) Pat Lee agreed to let the football team remain in the UK on the understanding they would join the Workshop in Cyprus if and when they were knocked out of the competition.

We never did see them in Cyprus; amazingly the team went on to win the competition with Jack scoring one of the winning goals in the Cup Final. An outstanding result and still the only Minor Unit ever to do so.

Jack was a much respected member of the Corps but was first and foremost a family man, deciding to leave the service in late 1964.

On leaving, he kept in close contact with the Army, settling in Aldershot. He became an active member and subsequently Welfare Officer of the Aldershot Branch of the Parachute Regiment Association and was a regular attender at the AOBA reunion weekends.

Jack Wigley was a larger-than-life character, tough as nails, as many boxing opponents discovered, but he also had a very soft generous centre and was always to the fore to help out when anyone had a problem, however large.

Jack was cremated in Aldershot Crematorium on 26 February where the coffin arrived to an Airborne Honour Guard and Standard.

We offer our sincere condolences to his wife Mary and their children and families.

Jack will be greatly missed and we will be raising many a pint to him at future REME Airborne and AOBA reunions.

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