Page 13 - Flaming Cauldron – Issue 55

ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

The Last Post

His first posting and the next 7 years contact with Keith and Jeanette, visiting Army Catering Corps. He served a full
were to be spent in Hereford attached whenever I was back in Hereford. It career of 22 years seeing active service
to 22 SAS where he joined an estab- was with great sadness that I was told in Borneo.
lished ACC team, which at that time of Keith’s passing on the morning of John and his wife Carole were
was expanding in numbers. In that same Christmas Eve, but I will remember him married in 1967. He leaves their three
year, along with Major (Retd) Chris as a great friend and ‘mucker’ and hus- children, Jules, Suzan and Richard.
Sockett, I was posted in from St Omer band to Jeanette. God Bless you Keith, Coming from a ‘military family’, it’s
Barracks and met Keith in our allocated RIP. Regards, Eric Smith. no surprise that two of them, Jules and
‘basha’ in Bradbury Lines and struck up Richard, would also join the Army.
what was to be a lifelong friendship. Brian Jones, civilian instructor at the After his service John worked for the
Keith was a confident guy and a very Army School of Catering Civil Service in Chetwynd Barracks,
good chef, with a good sense of humour Beeston and rejoined the Territorial
and soon got allocated to the Officers’ Terry Jordan Army. Sadly, John’s health had begun
and Sergeants’ Messes and this was to fail; he developed diabetes and became
to be the start of an active and busy partially sighted. Eventually he also suf-
period for the Regiment. He was soon fered from kidney problems and 3 years
doing regular tours in Oman, where ago, a stroke effected his mobility. When
the Dhofar campaign had started, and he was admitted to hospital for tests, no
in all areas where the Regiment oper- one expected the shocking news that he
ated. I was fortunate to work with Keith had terminal cancer and was given only
both in the Middle East and on other weeks to live. John resigned himself to it,
jobs, so therefore had the same periods with typical stoicism and fortitude but
of leave and time spent in Hereford. It just 5 days later he passed away.
was during one of these many times,
Editor; Thank you to Dougie Dau for
when we were out for a weekend pint,
kindly providing this tribute.
that we both met our future wives to be
at the local nightclub, as they say the Captain John Littlewood sadly passed
rest is history. Being a local man with away on 1st March 2020
a trusty Morris 1000, Keith showed
me many of the Herefordshire villages John David Livesey sadly passed away
and surrounding lanes, in our off-duty on 17th December 2019
periods, which have remained one of
my favoured places. Keith was an avid SSgt John Henry Kirk Roy Matchett sadly passed away on
Aston Villa fan and a decent footballer In February I attended the funeral of 13th February 2020
himself and along with Chris, he played SSgt John Kirk at Bramcote crema-
for the Regimental team on a few occa- torium, Nottingham. John and I had Major Keith Miller MBE
sions against local Hereford teams on a served together between 1969-71 Passed away on 26th March 2020.

Sunday morning. with 3rd Bn The Parachute Regiment. Major Keith Miller MBE was remem-
As was necessary, to progress his ACC We served in Malta, Cyprus, Libya and bered fondly by family at his funeral on
career, Keith and Jeanette (his wife and Aldershot. I recall when I arrived at 26th March 2020, numbers were limited

partner of 50 years) left Hereford and 3 Para as a young Cpl only 3 years after due to the country being in lockdown
spent the rest of his 22 years serving in boy service and with no Field Force over the Coronavirus pandemic. Morag,
Germany, Northern Ireland and Cyprus experience, it was John Kirk who helped Keith’s wife, intends to hold a memo-
before returning to his final posting in me through the first few tentative weeks rial service for him once the lockdown
Shrewsbury. As this was a short com- for which I was and remain very grateful. period is over and the country is back
mute to Hereford, they bought a house John was born in the Faroe Islands to normal.
there and settled back to a civilian life in in 1943. His Dad Bill was serving there Keith was born on 11th January
1993. Shortly after leaving the Army, he during WW2, he met and married a 1948 in Southsea, Portsmouth, he
was diagnosed with MS. Whilst this was local girl Judith. John’s earliest years had an elder brother John, his mother
to slow him down initially, he carried on where very much a mixture of Danish Margaret and father Thomas (known
with a full working life and enjoying and Icelandic as descendants of the as Mal). Unfortunately Mal died fairly
his time with the family and travelling Viking culture. After the war the fam- early in Keith’s life while at the age of
on holiday with Jeanette. Throughout ily moved to Nottingham. At 17 he 9. Eventually Margaret remarried a man
the last 50 years, having been his Best signed up to the Territorial Army, then called Sid who became a loving father to
Man and ‘mucker’, I have kept in regular 2 years later, the Regular Army in the John and Keith.
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