ficer Grade 2 at Home HQ, RHG/D. He retired from the Civil Service and regimental life in Nov 1985 but remained to reside in the Windsor area. He sadly passed away on 10th October 2012, aged 90 years.
Major John William Clayton Late The Blues and Royals by Roger Fortt formerly The Blues and Royals John William Clayton was born in London on 3rd December 1943 and grew up in the East End where he became very streetwise and a survivalist at an early age. He trained as a slaughterman but soon realised that he needed to broaden his horizons and first thought of joining the Fire Service. He always found it ironic that he was turned down for not being physically up to the job (too scrawny), his handwriting was illegible (he practiced ever after to become perfect), and it was thought that he would not be able to tolerate the discipline. After his second interview he went immediately to an Army recruitment office and was accepted into the Royal Horse Guards where the demands on his physicality and discipline were far higher. Bill as he was better known by his army mates joined The Blues in 1963 and was posted to Herford in Germany. He was rapidly promoted to Lance Corporal and after coming top of his Junior NCO’s cadre course in 1965 he was promoted to Corporal and found himself at the Guards Depot as a Lance Corporal of Horse in 1966 where he was soon recognised as a first class drill and weapons instructor giving the Foot Guards a run for their money. After the amalgamation of The Blues and Royals in 1969 Bill proved himself the complete all rounder by serving in the armoured regiment on Chieftain tanks, where he qualified as a regimental gunnery instructor, in Canada on the safety staff at BATUS, at Sandhurst training potential officers and as Squadron Corporal Major in Northern Ireland. In 1983 Bill was promoted to WO1 as the Regimental Corporal Major at Knightsbridge. Bill was commissioned in 1985 and went on to become QM and finished his service with the Regiment as HQ Squadron Leader at the Mounted Regiment in 1992. After leaving the Regiment he became QM with the Scottish Yeomanry with responsibility to help raise a new reconnaissance regiment and he eventually became a Civilian Staff Admin Officer with the Royal Scots Coy, 52 Lowland Regiment, until he retired in 2003. Bill and his wife Carole then started a new adventure by moving permanently to the Limousin in France where he lived out the rest of his days enjoying his life in the French community, showing the same passionate nature for all things that only Bill could. If they had an Olympic event for passion Bill would have won the gold medal. He was determined to learn French by attending local government courses. He stood for local councillor at the elections. He entertained in his own inimitable fashion and often had soirees with his French neighbours. Bill loved his hobby of carpentry and woodturning and many of his labours of love have been presented to his friends as gifts and will remain as part of his legacy. Latterly, he turned to apiary and as with many of Bill’s projects he became the consummate expert and wrote articles for his local newspaper on the art of bee keeping. Bill had a thirst for knowledge and was very exacting as those who served with him will remember, he was also one of the kindest
92 ■ Obituaries
and caring of men and would travel far and wide at the drop of a hat (and he had many) to help his friends and family. Bill passed away on April 6th this year after a very short illness and only a week after being admitted to hospital. His wife Carole whom he adored was with him throughout his hospitalisation. His sisters Brenda and Kathy and his four children Toby, Philip, Lucy and Ben of whom he was extremely proud and protective, supported Carole at a cremation service in France for family and local friends. I would never be forgiven by Bill if I did not mention that his initials were JC and that he held his last parade on Good Friday. He is obviously now in excellent company. A celebration of the life of John William Clayton was held at Holy Trinity Church in Windsor in September where a vast number of his friends from the Household Cavalry attended.
Major Joe Schofield Formerly The Life Guards prior to SAS Major Joe Schofield, who has died aged 90, wore the SAS Badge and Wings for a continuous period of close to 40 years; he also had the distinction of being the only soldier to serve with five SAS regiments. Major Joe Schofield, born June 23rd 1921, died February 8 2012. Schofield joined the 1st SAS in North Africa in 1941 as it was evolving from L Detachment, its earliest incarnation under its founder David Stirling. He was fortunate to survive his parachute training. The aircraft to be used were not equipped with static fixed lines, and Schofield said later that on his first jump the parachutes of the three men ahead of him “romancandled” and they fell to their deaths: “I was Number Four in the stick.” The air dispatcher just managed to grab him before he jumped. Schofield took part with the regiment in several raids on airfields and in the ambushing of convoys on the coastal road. After it was reorganised in 1943 as the Special Raiding Squadron (SRS) under Paddy Mayne, he saw action in the invasion of Sicily. Schofield was part of the force that scaled the cliffs at Cape Murro di Porco and knocked out a fortified farmhouse at the top. On the Italian mainland, he fought alongside the Commandos in the capture and then dogged defence of Termoli. In August 1944, in an operation codenamed “HAGGARD”, Schofield was dropped into France with a party from “B” Squadron 1st SAS and elements of the French and Belgian SAS. There they linked up with the Maquis around the Falaise pocket, harassing German units and signalling their positions to the RAF. The following winter he was involved in long-range reconnaissance patrols during the Battle of the Ardennes. In April 1945, at Lorup, near Cloppenburg in Germany, Schofield was in the leading jeep scouting ahead of a column when he came under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from two houses and a wood beside a country road. His commander was killed, and Schofield was momentarily pinned by shrapnel through one leg to the bodywork of the vehicle. Dragging himself on to the bonnet to return fire, he was then hit in the other leg by a sniper. Bleeding profusely from his wounds, he and his driver were taking cover in a ditch when they were narrowly missed by two rockets from a panzerfaust. Mayne, alerted by radio, went forward alone and cleared the houses with a Bren, shooting from the shoulder. With a volunteer manning the rear guns,