to take a reading. Cpl Ovens and Tpr Stagg decided to stay where they were until the sand storm had passed, starting the engine every so often, to keep the batteries charged, they spent a very uncomfortable night in a very sandy armoured car. The next morning, the sand storm gradually abated, and they were able to see something other than sand. There were a few poles stuck in the sand, one of which had on it’s top a petrol can. There was a number on this can, which was thought could be a map reference. As the storm abated they tried the radio and after some time were able to establish a reasonable signal, and managed to make contact with the rest of the squadron. Captain Wordsworth asked if they knew where we were, and they were able to answer with the details on the petrol can in the hope that this could be a useful and identifiable reference. This was verified as understood, and he told them that they were about forty miles away from the squadron, and that others were also adrift. He told them to wait until he reached them. After a couple of hours, they saw a jeep coming towards them, and identified Nipper. He had navigated to their position using his compass, and made two soldiers very pleased to see him and grateful. His brother was Major Christopher Wordsworth who died in Dec 2009, and his nephew Jim was a subaltern in The Life Guards in the 1980s. His wife Maureen pre-deceased him. He leaves a son Andrew and a daughter Caroline to whom we extend our sincere condolences.
Captain Sir Nicholas Beaumont Late The Life Guards Extracts from The Daily Telegraph Nicky Beaumont, who has died aged 81, was Clerk of the Course at Ascot for 25 years and one of the most popular figures in horse racing. As Clerk of the Course, Beaumont was responsible not only for the smooth running of Ascot’s race meetings but also for ensuring that it continued on a sound financial footing: in effect, therefore, he was also the chief executive, which is today a separate post in its own right. Edward Nicholas Canning Beaumont was born in London on December 14 1929, the third son of the 2nd Viscount Allendale and his wife Violet, daughter of Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Bt. Nicky’s father was Lord in Waiting to both George V and George VI, and the family – which had made its money in coal and lead mining – were extensive landowners in the northeast, with homes at Bretton Hall in Yorkshire, Bywell Hall near Newcastle upon Tyne, and Allenheads Hall near Hexham. In later life, Nicky would recall family picnics near Bretton Hall where the grass was black from the coal dust. The 2nd Lord Allendale was Master of the Badsworth Hunt, owned racehorses (including Woodburn, a winner of the Cesarewitch) and was senior steward of the Jockey Club. His son was therefore brought up with horses from his earliest years. From Ludgrove, Nicky went on to Eton, where he was in the
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same house as Humphrey Lyttleton, and on leaving school in 1948 joined The Life Guards, reaching the rank of Captain. He served in Germany, and came closest to seeing action when on board a ship that was about to sail for the Mediterranean in response to the Suez crisis; it was stood down at the last moment. On leaving the Army in 1960, he thought about opening a garden centre (gardens were one of the passions of his life), but abandoned the idea. Instead he gave the rest of his career to racing. In 1964 the Duke of Norfolk invited him to take the post of Assistant to the Clerk of the Course at Ascot. His first year in the job saw tremendous storms at the Royal meeting which caused the racing to be abandoned. During a particularly heavy downpour, he saw one of the gatemen pursuing a woman who, to protect her hat, had pulled up her skirt to cover her head. The gateman remonstrated with her: “Madam, your bottom is showing.” The lady replied: “Yes, I know, but I bought this hat only yesterday, and I have had this bottom for 52 years.” As Clerk of the Course from 1969, Beaumont oversaw the introduction of National Hunt racing at Ascot; introduced a number of new races; and improved the drainage on the course. By the time he retired in 1994, it was generally agreed that Beaumont had allowed the course to move with the times without permitting changes that would have damaged Royal Ascot, in particular, as one of Britain’s premier sporting occasions. Another legacy of his tenure must be attributed to his wife, Ginny, who in 1977 inaugurated the community singing around the bandstand which has become one of Royal Ascot’s most popular features. During the years in which they lived in Ascot he played a prominent part in the local community, as president of the local football, golf, tennis and environmental clubs as well as of the local St John Ambulance. After leaving Ascot he became director of racing at Newcastle and pursued his lifelong interests of shooting and fishing. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Berkshire in 1982 and for Northumberland in 1996. He was Vice-Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire from 1989 to 1994. He died on June 22, after being involved in a road accident near Hexham. His wife Ginny had died in 2007, and he is survived by their two sons.
Captain PAWB Everard Late The Royal Horse Guards The sad news came that Tony Everard died early on Sunday morning 18th September 2011 at his home Ratcliffe Hall. He was a remarkable man and a visionary of his time, steering his family company as Chairman throughout the turbulent aftermath of the Second World War and the plethora of brewery takeovers during the sixties and seventies. P A W B Everard was born in 1922 at the family home, Ratcliffe Hall, and was educated at Eton College. In 1941 he joined the Army through the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and took a Regular Commission with the Royal Horse Guards, serving in France. When his father, Sir W Lindsay Everard, became ill in 1947, he resigned his commission and joined a Brewery Company in Great Yarmouth for a period of