Capt Martin Bowlder of Beaulieu in May 2006 after a lengthy battle with cancer. After serving as a Regular Army Cavalry officer he joined A (Royal Norfolk) Coy, 6 R Anglian, in Norwich in the late 1990s as a Pl Comd. Subsequently, he became Regimental Signals Officer in Bn HQ at Bury St Edmunds.
    Alan Debenham and Stephen Fradley
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Alan David Dent of Northwold, Norfolk, on 12 Dec 05, aged 67. He latterly served for some years with A (Royal Norfolk) Coy, 6 (V) Royal Anglian, in the notorious 2 (Thetford Destroyer) Platoon, retiring as a Corporal Section Commander. Often quiet and unassuming he could be dominant when the occasion demanded, leading from the front. There, his stamina, especially on the hills, left his colleagues breathless !
Norwich born, Alan was the eldest of 2 brothers and 3 sisters. At the age of 11 his family moved to Oxburgh and after completing his schooling, he joined his father in the bricklaying trade. Called up for National Service in 1956, after Basic Training at Britannia Barracks, he transferred to the Royal Pioneer Corps. After demob Alan worked with horses in Oxburgh and then married Brenda in 1964, building them a house in Northwold. In keeping with his love of the outdoors, he became the Northwold village postman then worked at Wissington sugar beet factory and in the building trade again before embarking on a career with the National Rivers Agency until ill-health forced him to retire early at the age of 57.
Alan's interests were varied: motorcycles and attending Superbike Race Meetings; working with wood, especially furniture, wood carving and making walking sticks. A keen bowls player, he was also the Northwold greenkeeper. His love of the countryside and walking took him to Wales, the Lake District and Scotland. It was nothing for Alan to complete a 20-mile walk before breakfast. His longest walk was 150 miles across Scotland.
At his final parade the church was full. Alan’s coffin, bearing his motorcycle helmet, entered to the playing of the lament ‘Last of the Mohicans’. It’s departure was to the words sung by Whitney Houston ‘I will always love you.’
In winter sunlight his final Norfolk journey was from the ancient Northwold village church of St Andrews via narrow lanes to the parish cemetery in a splendid glass sided hearse, pulled by 2 magnificent black horses, followed on foot by dozens of mourners.
Acting on local intelligence, his former 2 Platoon colleagues, John Duke, David Eyles, John Raybould, Vic Turner and John Williams, had other ideas. 30 years before, with Alan leading, they had completed the 42 gruelling miles of the Lyke Wake Walk on the North Yorkshire Moors within the required 24 hours. Determined to beat, for once, Alan to the RV, a short cut was followed - thank goodness his old Platoon Commander didn’t have a map! The first to arrive at the cemetery entrance, close to the Commonwealth War Grave of WW1 casualty Harvey Chandler of the Leicestershire Regt, they formed a guard of honour. The last to leave, they formed up by the grave with their memories of a former colleague who met the challenges of life and, without complaint, his illness. ‘Farewell Old Comrade.’
Alan is survived by his widow Brenda, son David, daughter Clair and grandson Fenn.    JLR
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See the full photograph of the 2 Pl Squad at: www.norfolkbc.fsnet.co.uk/archive_collection/6_ranglian/6_ranglian_photographs.htm#a_coy_2_pl_1970

W Dye of Cliff Park, Gorleston on 21 February 2006. A FEPOW, he served with the 4th Bn. Members of the 4th Bn OCA attended his Thanksgiving Service and a Regimental Wreath was placed.   John Housego
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Mrs Jean Gaymer, of Norwich, peacefully, in Jan 2006, soon after the death of her husband Capt William Gaymer. A real lady, she was the daughter of Maj Peter Straghan MC who died in Nov 92 and Diana Straghan who died in Dec 97. She is survived by her son John and daughters Clare, Katharine and Georgina.
    JLR
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Maj Peter Griffiths of York on 24 November 2005. He served with the Royal Norfolks in the 9th and 2nd Bns from May 1940 to January 1948. With the 9th Bn he served as a Subaltern, Adjutant and Coy Comd in the Norfolk Coastal Defence and with the 2nd Bn he served as a Coy Comd in Burma and India. Peter was wounded at Mandalay from where he was flown home and then continued his military studies. He was a member of the 2nd Bn Royal Norfolk Officers Kohima Club and a regular attender at the 2 DIV Kohima Reunions in York where Peter was pictured in B&C 97 Dec 01.   JLR
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Maj John Piccaver JP DL of Holbeach in Nov 05, aged 87. He served with the 1st, 5th and 9th Bns 1938-46, joining the 5th Bn in 1938 as a Private. As a Sgt he attended OCTU, was commissioned May 1940 and transferred to the 9th Bn, serving as MTO and later as OC until the Bn was disbanded. Camp Commandant on D-Day, he was posted to the 1st Bn at Norfolk Ridge on D+3 and commanded A Coy until wounded in Jul 1944 and returned to hospitals in UK. He became OC Trg Coys in Norwich and was demobbed in Nov 1946.
The EDP obituary, titled 'A magistrate and keen countryman', follows.
John Edward Piccaver, who has died at the age of 87 at his home near Long Sutton, was a farmer and leading potato grower, countryman and soldier.
A former vice-chairman of the Potato Marketing Board, Major Piccaver, was born on the family's farm near Long Sutton, and went on to play an influential role at local, county and national level in the National Farmers' Union.
He went to school at King Edward VII, King's Lynn, and then joined the Royal Norfolk Regiment as a territorial in 1938. He took part in the D-Day landings in Normandy, where he was later severely wounded. He served until 1946 rising to the rank of Major.
In the same year, he bought Norfolk House Farm, near Long Sutton, which became his home until his death. He enjoyed his farming and was fully involved with the family business as chairman until 18 months ago.
Mr Piccaver was also a keen countryman and hunted with the West Norfolk Foxhounds for many years. Later, he took up golf and spent many happy days at his West Norfolk home and was also a club captain of Hunstanton Golf Club. A keen shot, he also fished but hunting and shooting were his main loves.
In 1965, he was elected vice-chairman of the PMB and in the same year, he was also a director of the West Norfolk Fertiliser Company and later, the FMC (Fatstock Marketing Corporation).
He was prominent in farming affairs, serving as county NFU chairman of Lincolnshire Holland, and on the NFU's ruling council. Mr Piccaver kept pedigree Lincoln Red cattle and won many championships at major shows until the herd was dispersed.
He was chairman of Holbeach Marsh Co-op, which including vining peas and other crops, before potatoes became even more important. His farm was originally a mixed enterprise with some livestock, including store lambs, but eventually cereals, potatoes, roots and even bulbs became predominant.
Mr Piccaver served as the first chairman of the Nene River Authority and was a magistrate. He was the last chairman of his local bench until his retirement, aged 75, when it was amalgamated.
(With acknowledgement to the Eastern Daily Press.)
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14965975 Ron Rae, of Blackpool, peacefully in Blackpool Victoria Hospital on 3 May 2006, aged 79. He served in the MT Section with 2 Royal Norfolk in India 1945-48. Ron was a valued member of the ‘Independence of India (1947) Association’ who departed Bombay in Aug 1947 aboard the MV Georgic. Latterly employed by the Inland Revenue as a Property Valuation Officer his main interests were holidays, gardening, DIY, writing and talking to people! He will be remembered for his tenacious efforts to acquire an Indian Service medal. The loving and devoted husband of Joan and much loved father, father-in-law and granddad, Ron will be sadly missed by all his family and many friends. He is survived by his widow Joan and daughters Sheila and Barbara.   Jim Cameron and Ron Stokoe
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Afternote from Webmaster Capt Ian 'Pip' Page added this tribute:
Ron was a splendid character and deserves to be remembered in the annals. He joined the 2nd Bn in India at Secunderabad in 1945, serving as a Cpl in the MT Section on Aid to the Civil Power duties in Calcutta and in Bihar, Bengal, Punjab and North-West Frontier Provinces. His great sense of humour is well recalled as well as his nickname 'Donkey Killer' - stemming from a disagreement with his 3-tonner and a Punjab donkey! In 1947 he returned to the UK, the 2nd Bn disbanded and he was demobbed in 1948. Ron felt very strongly that British troops serving in India during the fraught and bloody period 1945-47, leading to the Partition of India, should have been awarded the General Service Medal with an appropriate India bar. In his later years he waged a continuous campaign for this, especially after the GSM was back-dated 50 years for Suez Canal Zone veterans. His letters and approaches were legion - to HM The Queen, successive Ministers, Under Secretaries of State, the MoD Medal Office, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Office, the BBC and his MP. Such was his tenacity that rebuttals did not discourage him. Had he lived his campaign would doubtless have continued.   Capt Ian 'Pip' Page
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Cyril Ramsey of Lakenham, Norwich, in Nov 05, after a long illness.
The EDP obituary, titled "Burma 'death railway' haunted by horror", follows.
'Cyril Ramsey, who has died aged 91, was a Norwich war hero, a man who cheated death by three days 60 years ago and was still haunted every day by the horrors he saw in the Japanese jungle slave camps where he had been a PoW.
Like so many of his young colleagues from Norwich and Norfolk, Mr Ramsey was an ordinary bloke who faced, endured and survived experiences far beyond the comprehension of those who knew him before and after the war.
Born and bred in Lakenham, this popular shopkeeper turned soldier, lived through the horrors of “death railway” only to be shipwrecked on the way to Japan were he was used as slave labour.
When victory finally came, in the summer of 1945, an American surgeon removed an abscess from his kidney and told him he would have died within three days.
He weighed just six stone. He had been to hell and back and when he got home, almost a year later, his mother and sister took one look at him - and passed out.
He went on to run his “open all hours” shop on Hall Road - and it was not until years later that he finally spoke about his war.
Right up to his death, Mr Ramsey was still angry at the way he and his young comrades were treated. Thousands never came home.
He joined the Royal Norfolk Regiment and after basic training was sent to Singapore. “We never stood a chance and Winston Churchill knew it. The whole operation was an absolute disgrace. We were ordered to surrender but none of us knew what to expect,” he said.
They were marched into the jungle to build the Burma/Thailand railway of death and that is where he slaved as men died around him. “I still can't talk about some of the atrocities I saw. The memories still haunt me every day. We never imagined human beings could be so cruel. They were evil,” he said recently.
He was sent to Japan and shipwrecked on the way. He spent the last year of the war working in a steel factory. “We were all in a very sorry state. Men were dying all the time. We couldn't have held out much longer - and then the Yanks arrived,” he said.
“We were kept in pigsties and treated like animals. When the Americans saw us they held their noses and cried - we were just skeletons.”
Mr Ramsey leaves a son Jonathan, sister Vera and brothers John and Des. He loved golf and was a member of the Eaton club.
Ian Fletcher, of the Children and Families of the Far East Prisoners of War, said Mr Ramsey had been living with cancer for some time but managed to travel to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire in August and was present when the FEPOW Memorial Building was opened.
“He was a valued member of our charity and will be greatly missed by us all. Part of our history has died with him,” he said.'
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Dennis William Rowell of Norwich on 27 March 2006 aged 78. He served with the Royal Norfolks from Sep 1947, stationed first at Britannia Barracks in Norwich and then at Bury St Edmunds School of Infantry. Postings followed to Bielefeld, Paderborn, Cologne and Hamelin, mainly involved in escorting German prisoners back to Germany. He was very athletic and won many army medals for running, long jump and swimming, most of which he gave away. The family have photos taken in Bielefeld of him running, days he remembered with huge fondness. A member of the Royal British Legion he attended events when he could and was the standard bearer in the 1970s for the Mile Cross branch in Norwich.
His funeral at Earlham Crematorium commenced with ‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’ and concluded with the ‘Eton Boating Song’. The reading was an extract from the song of Hiawatha. The Regiment was represented by Maj John L Raybould. Born and educated in Norwich, Dennis had 4 brothers and 2 sisters and was known as ‘Snowy’.  He met Pat, to whom he was married for over 40 years, at work. Retiring from Colman Foods in 1992 he maintained a wide circle of social friends. Remembered for a ‘constant twinkle in his eye’ and largesse he was well-liked and respected in the community and very good company. Dennis was a  great fan of the programme ‘Dad’s Army’, reflecting his off-beat humour. He will be missed as will his lovely heart. Dennis is survived by his widow Patricia, daughters Jacqueline and Denise, grandchildren Helen and David.    JLR and Jacquie Rowell
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Col Tim Swayne TD DL of Salisbury, suddenly, on 21 Nov 2005, aged 75.
Col Tim was my 2nd 6 R Anglian CO. A gentleman. In 1973, after returning to UK from Zambia and Uganda, I joined 6 R Anglian after seeing an advertisement in the Thetford Sports Centre, asking for chaps to join the new 2 (Thetford) Platoon of 6 R Anglian.
After an interview with the CO, Lt Col Paul Raywood (later Col, TD DL), my first weekend, that Autumn, with the Bn was at Thetford Rifle Range for the annual Bn ‘Skill at Arms Meeting’.
Arriving in the dark, I found the tented Officers’ Mess Tent. Within was my OC, Maj David James. Knowing the form, I called for a round of drinks. The barman was a slim and spare chap, wearing a black polo-neck jumper. I said: ‘Barman, a round of drinks on me.’ He did not demur nor raise any objection. The drinks were dispensed and drunk.
Next morning, over breakfast, I became somewhat aware of my faux-pas. There, among the Offrs Mess breakfastees, was the barman. It was Maj Tim Swayne, 2nd in Command and soon to become the Commanding Officer!
He never said a word, then or later, but now, over 30 years on, may I say: ‘Sorry Colonel’. (The Bar Tale was in B&C 104 Jun 05.)

In Feb 99 I sent to Col Tim, with the invitation to the 6 R Anglian Dinner:
'My appointment in the Balkans with SFOR was to a post unique in the British Army, as Staff Officer TA/Reserves. The job description defined the role as "encompassing mobilisation, demobilisation and extensions of service. It also serves as an interface between Headquarters LAND in UK and Theatre Units and as point of contact."
Understanding that meeting incoming TA and Reservists at the airport was part of the job, our younger daughter Elfrida (now mother to our 2 gem granddaughters) observed: ‘So you are going to be a holiday rep!’
There were always 500 or so TA/Res in Theatre. One of my many tasks was booking demob flights. It was a matter that had to be got right, along with an admin instruction to the Theatre unit for kit, weapons, MFO, dress and all the minutiae of getting a soldier back to the UK in good order.
Especially during that last double tour in Bosnia I kept daily in my mind some words of yours Colonel, and I have often quoted them as a maxim.
We were at Sennybridge with the US National Guard by a river. You were talking to Cpl Ted Guy, the A Coy Signaller and me. One thing you said made a lasting impression : ‘Don’t bugger the men about!’
I didn’t and there were no foul ups with the hundreds of TA and Reservists soldiers I processed during my tour. Thank you for that.”
Col Tim was an inspiration to us young officers. In by e-mail from Maj Ron James was: 'He was an outstanding CO.'
Tim commanded a company of 4/5 Essex and, as OC of The Essex Cadre was probably the last major in Essex uniform.   JLR

The obituary which appeared in the 'Castle' Dec 2006, written by Col Dick Shervington TD DL, is below. Click images to enlarge

Bernard Taylor of Norwich on 20 Jan 2006 after a long illness, bravely borne. Long known as Barney, he enlisted in 1946 and served with the 1st Bn in Berlin with Monty Howard then in Korea and was involved in OP Alphonse in Cyprus. Service continued with the East Anglian and Royal Anglian Regts until retirement in 1976. Latterly he had been the Norwich Branch Vice Chairman. In 2002 he was one of 6 Association Members selected to march down the Mall at HM The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Parade.
Barney's funeral was well attended by Branch members, BKVA and others who had served with him. The service was conducted by Revd Jonathan Boston and Revd Fr Ken Reeve read the lesson.
Lt Col Paul Garman, Norwich Branch Chairman, said: ‘I feel very privileged that I have been asked to say a few words in tribute to Barney. I first met Barney when I handed over to him at Britannia Barracks as Recruit Training Sgt in 1956. I know his tour at the depot was a success as I have bumped into several of his recruits from those, now rather far off, days. They all remember him with great affection and were grateful for the way he looked after them and gently but firmly put them on the right path for their 2 years National Service.
Our next encounter was in Iserlohn where Barney was Mortar Platoon Sgt and I was a Sgt in C Coy. I remember on one occasion, for reasons that escape me, we were umpires on an exercise in Borkenburg. It was extremely cold and there happened to be a very inviting guest house nearby. I must admit we sneaked off for a couple of hours to catch up and thaw out. After that, I regret we did not monitor much of the nights activity and only woke up when a dawn ambush opened up nearby. A small episode that makes soldiering worthwhile and seals a friendship.
Other than Aden we did not see much of each other over the years except at the odd Association or Sgts Mess Past & Present dinner when we happened to be in the country. However, when I returned to Norwich in 2000 I was delighted to find that Barney was on the scene and an active member of the Regimental Association. He was one of the founder members of the Norwich branch of the Association when it formed in 1992 and our Vice Chairman from 2004. From 2000 to 2002 he was Vice Chairman and Welfare Officer of the Norfolk branch of The British Korean Veterans association. In addition, he served on the Regimental Association Dinner Committee. His willingness to become involved in regimental activities was typical. He remained deeply loyal to the regiment and everything it stands for to the very end.
Finally, I have thought long and hard to find a phrase or word that described Barney. In the end, I could not come up with a better word than the one, which was the old regimental motto ‘Firm’. The word means steady, steadfast and resolute. That was Barney.
Barney was a true friend and comrade to all who knew him and we will all miss him and of course, Ruth. They will be a greatly missed but never forgotten.’
Barney was pre-deceased by his wife Ruth who died on 6 Jan 2006.    Paul Garman and JLR
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23136256 Raymond Neville Wright of Norwich, suddenly, on 5 May 06, aged 69. He served as a Bandsman with 1st Bn The Royal Norfolk Regt from 1955-8. Born in Happisburgh he was the youngest son, with 3 brothers and 4 sisters. While training at Britannia Barracks he met and danced with a young lady, Edna, to whom he gave his future address in Germany. Her mother found it and severely punished Edna, then but 14. However, after demob, promising her mother he would not re-join the army, they married in 1959. His working life was spent in the Construction Industry, concluding as a very able accounts clerk, extremely quick with mental VAT calculations. The family lived in Heartsease, Norwich, before moving to Happisburgh then to Norwich. Active to the end, Ray was a member of the Norwich and District Branch. The Chapel at St Faith’s Crematorium, for The Service of Thanksgiving, conducted by the Revd John Bennett, was full. The casket, draped with the Union Flag, was attended by Ray Segon, carrying the Norwich Branch Standard, black draped. Between the hymns ‘Abide With Me’ and ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ was a reading from Revelations. Edmund Baker sounded the calls: Last Post and Reveille. 1 R Norfolk were represented by Maj John Denny and the Guard of Honour, from the Norwich and District Branch, comprised Alec Barr, Richard Bullock, Chris Frost, Lt Col Paul Garman, Alan Nicholls, George Osborne, Maj John L Raybould and Ray Segon. Two sons, in their infancy, Christopher and Richard, pre-deceased Ray. He is survived by his widow Edna and sons, Gary, Rodney, Raymond and Jason.    Lt Col Paul Garman & JLR
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