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Major M T N H Wills LVO DL
Late Coldstream Guards
by Major N J N Wills
formerly Coldstream Guards
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Traditional country gentleman with a dedication to duty, Tom Wills, who has died aged 83, was a character from a previous era: landowner, forester, English watercolour collector, who served for 14 years in the Coldstream Guards. Dedicated to the conservation, cohesion and welfare of his locality in Gloucestershire, he was respected by many for his self-effacing disposition, gentle sense of humour and high standards which were easily discernible from his immaculate, unvarying wardrobe. Unfailingly courteous, solitary and peaceful, this gentleness masked a spirit of persistence that repeatedly overcame obstacles which might have defeated more vocal or overt figures.
Tom had a challenging start to life. He was born during the Second World War in Alexandria, Egypt in 1940 with his twin brother, Freddie, as their mother Maimie had followed her husband Michael to North Africa, where he was fighting with the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards. When the situation in Egypt became too precarious, General Wavell ordered families to be evacuated to Durban, South Africa where their younger brother, John, was born and where they remained for the next four years until the end of the war.
Michael, a father who they had rarely seen, was posted as missing after the Battle of the Mareth Line in Tunisia on 17th March 1943 and it wasn’t until Christmas Eve that he was finally posted as killed in action at the age of 27. He was previously awarded the Military Cross for an action on 16th March 1941 while attacking the barracks at Sollum. Boarding the troop ship The New Amsterdam his widow and the three boys arrived back in Liverpool in July 1945. Maimie married Colonel Tim Gibbs in 1947, and with no formal education or ‘man in the house’ to date, it was difficult for Tom to accept a father figure.
Tom was educated at Abberley Hall prepschool and then Eton where he made no special mark save on the river; he was a ‘wet-bob’ earning his Lower Boat Choices. Summers were spent in Ross-shire fishing in the hill lochs since his grandmother grew up at Strome, Lochcarron and mother at Berryfield House, near Inverness, and he maintained a love and connection to the Highlands. Meanwhile his stepfather and David Wills, Tom’s uncle, helped raise and instil a sense of duty and responsibility in the young man.
Tom joined Brigade Squad under the instruction of the legendary Coldstreamer Sergeant (later Major) Peter Horsfall and was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1959. Tom was everything a Coldstream officer should be; it was an era when Adjutants could be very tough, but when Tom was Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion he never found that necessary. He led by example, patience, wisdom, and kindness and was always prepared to listen. He was very calm and supportive of those under his command and unbothered by fractious senior officers but, if you got it wrong he could dish out a well-deserved and memorable bollocking, still remembered 50 years on judging by the letters received! It was during his 14-year Army career that he flourished, making many of his best friends, revelling in his sense of style and never missing an opportunity for fun. A keen polo player, he was a lynchpin of the Regimental team having been taught to ride by the Irish Olympic three-day event rider Colonel Joe Dudgeon.
The 1st Battalion were deployed to Radfan Camp in April 1965 during the Aden Emergency, where the National Liberation Front (NLF) led an armed rebellion, which included grenade attacks, parcel-bombs, and the laying of mines. The seriousness of the threat didn’t deter Tom, who arrived later, looking immaculate wearing a tie and his regimental boating jacket. Between patrols ‘up country’ and manning road blocks there was opportunity for polo and a boat was even acquired for water skiing. In a letter to his brother, John, the only complaint was that his copies of Horse and Hound always arrived about seven days late leaving him ‘out of touch’! He was a kind and generous host at Achnashellach and shared his passion for stalking and the hill with many Coldstreamers over the years.
He left the Army in 1973, with the affectionate moniker ‘Major Tom’ which stuck with him for the rest of his life, to carry out a two-year course at the Royal Agricultural College in preparation for taking over the management of Miserden Estate in Gloucestershire from his grandmother. On the estate his particular attachment to trees and forestry were evident. The majority of Miserden woodlands had been felled shortly after the war, and he personally oversaw the establishment of the beech woods and was more than upset to witness the nurse crop of Ash devastated by the ‘die back’ in recent years. He was an active member of the Royal Forestry Society and the International Dendrology Society. He entered the forestry at Miserden into the RFS Duke of Cornwall’s Award for Resilient Forestry, only to be beaten by the Duke of Cornwall’s Duchy Estate, an experience that made him question his allegiance to the Crown! He planted and maintained an arboretum in the gardens with many Sorbus and Cornus, and replanted the two 100-metre-long herbaceous borders above the house in collaboration with Sylvia Morris, welcoming visitors on open days and private visits. He was proud of the garden’s affiliation with the National Garden Scheme, where the garden had been open for 91 years, continuing the tradition set by his grandmother. Before handing over management of the estate to his son Nicholas, he set in motion the construction of a village-wide Biomass heating system supplying much of the village and church.
‘Major Tom’ contributed tirelessly to the benefit of young people in the county and local community. He was a Governor and later Chairman of Trustees of Rendcomb College for 50 years. Founded and funded by his grandfather Noel Wills in 1922, it was originally a school for 60 Gloucestershire boys who needed but could not readily afford boarding-school education. He was Chairman and later President of the Gloucestershire Scout Council and a very active District Commissioner of the Cotswold Hunt Pony Club. He sponsored a choral scholarship for Gloucester Cathedral Choir and donated regularly to Barnardos and other charities working to encourage young people. In 1982 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and in 1985 he was appointed High Sheriff. In 1995 he was President of the Gloucestershire Society. From 1993 until 2010 he was an officer of the Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard for which he was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order. This role gave him the opportunity to serve again with former soldiers and was connected with his love of pageantry and tradition, as well as giving a good excuse to frequently visit his London club, Boodle’s. He would always stand for the slow and quick march past during the Queen’s Birthday Parade with a glass of champagne while watching on the television.
Cancer had been his nemesis for the last twenty years, which he managed with great fortitude and stoicism, although it significantly affected his confidence. When asked by a friend how he was getting on with his treatment for bowel cancer Tom replied with characteristic sparkle in his eye that he was looking forward to ‘returning to mains drainage next week’. Latterly in his final weeks, a friend telephoned asking for an update and Tom said ‘he was on the way out’ with such a casual air that his friend assumed he meant he was heading out for a dog walk or something, replying ‘oh, sorry I’d better leave you to it’!
He married Penelope Howard-Baker in 1982, the marriage ended amicably in 1992. He is survived by his two children, three grandchildren, two brothers, and two half-sisters. |
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