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Lieutenant Colonel A J M Drake DL
Late Coldstream Guards
by Colonel J D Bagshaw CBE LVO
formerly Coldstream Guards
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Tony Drake died on 2nd April 2025, aged 91 years. He joined the Brigade Squad on 21st November 1952 and shortly after attended Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School. On successfully completing the commissioning course he was granted a Short Service Commission in the Regiment and joined 1st Battalion in Germany in 1953. The next few years saw moves to the Guards Training Battalion, the Guards Depot, and a posting as Staff Captain in 1st Guards Brigade. In 1960, Tony applied for training as a Light Aircraft Pilot and following a selection course which ran from January to November 1962 he qualified as a helicopter pilot and spent the next three years with the Army Air Corps mainly in BAOR working closely alongside 4th Guards Armoured Brigade. His final posting with the AAC was on attachment to 1st Battalion Scots Guards as Air Platoon Commander in Malaya. Thereafter he served in a number of posts and appointments including spells in company command in 1st and 2nd Battalions, as a student at Staff College, on the staff in HQ London District and HQ UKLF and as a Directing Staff on the Junior Division of the Staff College. His final posting was in the MOD in Whitehall after which, in November 1984, he retired from the Army.
In retirement he continued with public service and was a well-known figure in Devon, filling a plethora of posts in the county, amongst them High Sheriff of Devon, Chairman of Devon Council, Chairman of Musbury Parish Council, and an East Devon District Councillor. However, he also remained very well connected to the Regiment and was President of the Exeter Branch of The Coldstream Guards Association for 17 years. |
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