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Corps Notices
Margaret Purves, born 25 November 1934, died 12 September 2021
MARGARET PURVES, GC, who has died aged 86, was one of the youngest recipients of the Albert Medal, later translated to the George Cross, awarded when she was 14 for her bravery after she plunged into the sea to save two boys from drowning. She was relaxing with some friends visiting Sully Island near Barry, South Wales, on Saturday May 28 1949 when she noticed that a party of Scouts from Cardiff, aged between 11 and 15, had become cut off from the causeway which led to the mainland by the swiftly rising tide. Most got across safely, but two of the boys were forced off the causeway by the strong tide. The leader of the Scout party, Tony Rees, 18, returned to help the elder boy, Richard Wiggins, 13, but in the struggle, he too became exhausted. Watching from the beach, Margaret Vaughan (as she then was) saw the difficulties they were in. Although earlier she had found the water too chilly for a swim herself, she undressed and struck out towards them, covering some 30 yards in cold, rough water and against strong currents running on a rising tide. She towed the boy to the shore while he supported himself by clinging to the straps of her costume and Tony Rees’s coat. At about 10 feet from the shore a lifebelt was thrown in which the boy was placed by the other two, and the three reached the shore safely. According to the citation in the London Gazette, Margaret Vaughan’s action probably saved the life of the Scout leader as well as that of the elder boy Wiggins.
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Margaret Purves and her husband John Purves
In 1957 she was commissioned into the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps as a lieutenant and posted to the Cambridge Hospital, Aldershot, before further postings to Mauritius, Kenya, Catterick and finally Hanover in Germany, where she met Capt John Purves of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). They married at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, in 1961, six months to the day after their first meeting. As Margaret Purves, she held various jobs – nursing in Singapore, card-punching for the Inland Revenue in Ottawa, serving as deputy editor of the REME house magazine, The Craftsman.
An extract from Margaret’s memoirs from 1976 –
Eventually we received a posting back to Arborfield, and had to leave the Headquarters (24 Airportable Brigade) and the close family we had made there. I was eager to get back to work, and managed to get a job as assistant editor of the Craftsman magazine – the REME house magazine produced monthly. For this I had to become a clerical officer in the Civil Service. The office was about 250 yards from the house, and the working conditions were good, a small organisation with a retired Brigadier as Editor, and another young wife as my assistant. Life was good, the children were all happy at their schools, and came home frequently for weekends and holidays. As Arborfield was the home of REME in the UK, we were always getting visitors from our past, and there was always a lot going on.
Returning to Germany in 1977, she became sister in charge of the
Margaret Purves at the 75th anniversary of the George Cross
medical centre at Minden garrison. She also worked at Cheltenham General Hospital as night sister in charge of the intensive care unit. After 29 service moves, in 1983 Margaret Purves and her husband settled at Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, where she became chairman of the local Conservative Association and served on the town and county councils until 1989.
Margaret Purves’s husband, John Purves, died in 2007. Her son and two daughters survive her.
Lt Col (Retired) Michael Charles Smith, born 7 March 1938, died 6 January 2021
Scribe: By Col Geoffrey Simpson
It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of “Mike” Smith who I had known well since 1962 when we first met in Singapore.
About three years ago, he was diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma which is a not too serious blood cancer. He was checked regularly, but in January 2020 it had developed into Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma, a much more serious cancer but one that can often be successfully treated. The chemotherapy was shrinking the cancer but the drugs conflicted with his heart treatment and sadly, the cancer won.
Mike although born and bred in Portsmouth, was educated at the Royal Hospital School in Ipswich after which he trained as a Mechanical engineer with de Havilland’s. After graduating from Portsmouth University, as one of the last intake of National Servicemen, he Commissioned into the Corps. Later, as a “regular” in 1962 he was posted to Singapore to 10 Infantry Workshop where I happened to be serving too.
Initially he picked up what is often a poisoned chalice in that he was appointed as the MTO, but we served very successfully together in the 10 Infantry Workshop detachment during the conflict in Brunei in 1963 and we became firm friends for over 59 years. Whilst in Singapore, we both started to sail dinghies and we crewed very well together in many races including the Singapore to Changi race which consisted of a fourteen mile beat into the over 25 knot monsoon winds in a 12 foot long Firefly dinghy.
He later served on an airfield project in Thailand before going to BAOR as EME to the Royal Fusiliers in Osnabruck – a soccer
playing regiment, when he, as a rugby player with The London Wasps 2nd and 3rd teams and a future captain of the Berkshire County rugby team, he might have been better posted next door to the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment who were the Army champions at the time. His last posting was as CO of 18 Command Workshop in Bovington and after he retired from REME in 1980 he took up the post of Engineering Director for a Lloyds Broker before setting up his own business which sadly collapsed when he had his heart attack during the recession. After that he was appointed CEO of Thatcham Research until he finally retired in 2002.
We also sailed together in the Corp’s regattas at Seaview in the Mermaid keelboats with more than a little success. He later owned and sailed his own offshore yacht including taking part in The Fastnet Race and in 1992 he and his son Adam joined my late wife and I on my own yacht in Scotland for a leg of the Round Britain Rally. I was honoured to be asked by his widow, Trish, to deliver the eulogy at his funeral and interment at West Overton, Wiltshire on 19th January earlier this year during which I described him as:
“The original gentle giant – unless you met him in a rugby scrum.”
He will be missed by his widow Trish, his extended family, myself and his many friends.
Lt Col (Retired) Michael Charles Smith
GRIFFITHS BARNARD – Former LCpl Anthony Percival Griffiths Barnard passed away on 08 September 2021 aged 92. Dates of service 1947-1949. SHEPPARD – Former WO1(ASM) Graham Leslie Sheppard passed away on 08 September 2021 aged 83. Dates of service 19541979. WOOLSTENCROFT – Former WO1(ASM) Barry Woolstencroft (Baz) BEM passed away on 02 August 2021 aged 78. Dates of service 1959-1983.
Death Notices
Death Notice Requirements
In order to publish a death notice we require the following information: Surname, first name, rank, full date of death, ages and dates of service. An obituary with additional career and life information is welcome. To inform us of the death, please contact Ms Bev Bate, Corps Welfare Manager on ( 01249 894523 or benevolence@reme-rhq.org.uk
Officer Assignments 14 SEPTEMBER 2021
NAME ASSIGNED TO DATE
Lieutenant Colonel LEACH MR 102 BN REME – CO 01 Nov 21 ROBERTSON JN 3 ARMD CS BN REME – CO 22 Nov 21 SMITH DJ ARMY RM ABW – ARMY RM OSP PGMO SNR REQ MGR 13 Nov 21 Major BROWN AJ ATR WINCHESTER – OC C SQN 08 Nov 21 WOODS CJ BRITFOR – OP SHADER – DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF 20 Nov 21 REGULAR ARMY Intermediate Regular Commissions (Late Entry) Warrant Officer Class 1 Stuart John DUNCAN 25068077 to be Captain 4 May 2021 Warrant Officer Class 1 Robert Howell John PURSER 25063451 to be Captain 5 July 2021 Warrant Officer Class 1 Jonathan Lee GRIFFITHS 24930279 to be Captain 12 July 2021 ARMY RESERVE
Group A Officer Cadet Rheana Krishna PARMAR 30305588 to be Second Lieutenant 17 July 2021
28 SEPTEMBER 2021
REGULAR ARMY Short Service Commissions Officer Cadet George Kennaway ARBUTHNOT 30339680 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Jake Alexander Turpin BARRETT-CHAPMAN 30266604 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Ben Bryan BLORE 30266843 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Ryan James BOXALL 30283059 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Alexandre Benoit Pierre CHAMPAGNE 30282738 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Benjamin Paul CHANDLER 30282735 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Oliver John CLARKE 30224883 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Amy Niamh DRYSDALE 30246742 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Oliver Peter GRIMES 30266886 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Charlie Jon HOWE 30282773 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Isabella Maisie INGLIS 30282762 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Samuel Mark JACKSON 30266962 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Jonathan David LAUNDON 30343201 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Nicholas James LEE 30266833 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Eliott Thomas MCMILLAN 30282788 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Karan MERWAHA 30267839 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Jack Peter MORRELL 30266827 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Harriet Lillian Margaret PEARSALL 30282785
from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Maxwell Gibson PIERCE 30288808 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 with seniority 11 July 2021 Officer Cadet Rory Sotherton TALBOTT 30340814 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Nathan Samuel TURNER 30205277 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet Jack Richard WHITAKER 30282859 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021 Officer Cadet William Charles Henry WILSON 30282802 from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to be Second Lieutenant 7 August 2021
05 OCTOBER
The following have been awarded the 1st Clasp to the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Military) CAPT, J. DALEY, REME, 25052558 WO2, S. I. H. DAVEY, REME, 25038321 SGT, M. J. KENDALL, REME, 25050949 WO2, G. A. THIRSK, REME, 24927520 The following have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Military) WO2, C. J. BROOKS, REME, 25087572 SSGT, C. P. CARTWRIGHT, REME, 25165081 WO2, W. B. COMERY-LANG, REME, 24946122 SSGT, K. HALL, REME, 25223204 SGT, D. M. HOOK, REME, 25217106 SSGT, G. D. J. LEWIS, REME, 25106453 SGT, M. S. NAMISI, REME, 25220904 SGT, G. R. PERKES, REME, 25136863 The following have been awarded the 3rd Clasp to the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal CPL, G. W. HUMPHREYS, REME, 24629872 CAPT, P. R. TURNER, REME, 24638589 The following have been awarded the 1st Clasp to the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal CPL, J. H. DAVIES, REME, 24934969 The following have been awarded the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal CFN, J. R. GIBBONS, REME, 30054403
The REME Charity
The Trustees of The REME Charity acknowledge with sincere thanks the donations received during the month of SEPTEMBER 2021. They also wish to acknowledge the regular subscriptions received from the Officers and Soldiers of the Corps and retired members of the REME Institution:
Donations
From . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Amount 03/09/2021 Swim The Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£704.00 03/09/2021 Southern Venture 7Rgt RLC LAD . . . . . . . . . . . . .£20.00 03/09/2021 Hayley Costanzo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00 10/09/2021 Southern Venture 7 Regt RLC LAD . . . . . . . . . . .£35.00 17/09/2021 Southern Venture 7 Regt RLC LAD . . . . . . . . . . .£47.50 17/09/2021 Sam Melvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£5.24 17/09/2021 IMO Paul Maslin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£15.00 Date sent to Craftsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30/09/2021 Total Donations (Sept) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£841.74 Total £’s paid in Grants (Sept) . . . . . . . . . . . .£18,653.01 No. Grants (Sept) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Average Grant (Sept) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£601.71
If you would like to see how your money is spent, we welcome one or two observers at The REME Charity meetings. The meetings are held midweek, approximately every three weeks. If you would like to observe a meeting, please contact The REME Charity Secretary on ( Mil: 95481 4527 or Civ: 01249 894527 in the first instance.
The REME Charity is here for both veterans and serving personnel in times of hardship or need. Contact via SSAFA ( 0800 731 4880 www.ssafa.org.uk or The Royal British Legion ( 0808 802 8080 www.britishlegion.org.uk or your Unit Welfare if serving. All enquiries and information is dealt with in the strictest confidence. If you wish to discuss any benevolence need you can contact us on ( 01249 894523.
