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Captain Andrew Bacchus
Late Scots Guards
by Major Peter Le Marchand
formerly Scots Guards


It is entirely appropriate that in the immediate period after his death, Andrew Bacchus’s fame rested upon a pair of socks. Together with another Ensign, Andrew organised a dinner in October 2013 for those who had carried the Colour on the 61 Queen’s Birthday Parades of Her Majesty’s reign. Seven ensigns had died, and three could not attend, so 54 members of this exclusive club dined with Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh at the Cavalry and Guards Club.


The Duke of Edinburgh with Andrew Bacchus at The Cavalry and Guards Club in October 2013 for
The Ensigns Dinner attended by HM The Queen. Andrew was one of the organisers, and 54 former Ensigns to the Colour attended, along with the Major General

As one of the organisers, Andrew sat next to Prince Philip for the formal photograph, and the crimson socks he always wore with his dinner jacket were magnificently exposed. The impact of the socks was not intentional, nor were they a deliberate lèse-majesté; but the photograph encapsulated his zest for life, his humour, and his eccentricity.  It reminded all who knew him that in his company you were never more than a heartbeat away from laughter.

Andrew Julian Bacchus was born on 3rd January 1949, and was brought up in various countries round the Caribbean. After Cranleigh School, where he commanded the CCF parade in 1965 with Field Marshal Montgomery taking the salute, he went to Madrid University and then to Sandhurst.

Commissioned into the Intelligence Corps, he joined 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in Münster for a two year attachment. He went immediately with the Battalion to Libya for a six week exercise, repeated a year later, just before Gadhafi seized power. Enjoying life in the Regiment so much, Andrew transferred to the Scots Guards before the Battalion returned to Windsor in 1970.

It was while in Windsor in June 1970 that 2nd Battalion provided the Escort on the Birthday Parade, with Andrew as Ensign. The 1st Battalion had Trooped the year before, but exceptionally 2nd Battalion did so in succession, as it was due to be placed in suspended animation at the end of the year.

Well up to strength when this moment arrived, 2nd Battalion formed two companies to be attached to other Regiments, S Company to the Grenadiers, and F Company to the Irish Guards in Hong Kong; as well as the independent 2nd Battalion Scots Guards Company in Edinburgh. Andrew went as a subaltern to Hong Kong. His platoon won the Inter Company Platoon Contest; and, on an operational note, he had to break out the ammunition and grenades when an incident on the border with the People’s Republic of China raised the tension in Hong Kong. Andrew was commanding the forward platoon at Sha Tau Kok at the time. It was at the time of ‘Ping Pong Diplomacy’, just after the Cultural Revolution, and thankfully the situation ended calmly.

Andrew became Training Officer and then Adjutant of the Junior Guardsmen’s Wing at the Depot and completed the Junior Division of the Staff College. He went with 1st Battalion for an emergency tour in Northern Ireland, in Brandywell in Londonderry.

His next posting was to 2nd Battalion in Waterloo Barracks, Münster, which he had left some seven years previously with 2SG. He completed a tour as company commander, but then resigned his commission as the next posting had no school for his young daughter, and no married accommodation. Andrew did a civilian management course and then worked in Bedford in the personnel department of Redpath Dorman Long, part of British Steel. He joined successively Jones Lang Wootten and Knight Frank & Rutley, both in London. Commuting to Huntingdon, he missed the awful King’s Cross underground station fire in 1987 by about half an hour.

Andrew joined the Territorial Army, becoming a watchkeeper for  Headquarters 4 Division in Herford in BAOR. He gathered three other Scots Guards majors to help in this key task: Richard Jenner-Fust, Peter Clapton and Peter Le Marchand, and they became a Gang of Four within their organisation, dedicated to their work, but also adept at spreading humour and goodwill on exercises. He earned his Territorial Decoration (now called the Volunteer Reserve Services Medal) for ten years’ service with the Reserves.

Andrew was an enthusiastic follower of Northampton Rugby Football Club, travelling the UK and France in their support. At a home match against a northern team, one of their supporters took exception to a refereeing decision, and shouted something along the lines of ‘Eh oop, Ref, thart be ne’er ruck, thart maul t’ball on t’ground!’ Andrew, suitably cloth capped, Barboured and green wellied, stood and in impeccable accent, called, ‘Interpreter, please!’  There is no necessity to speculate upon his contribution to post-match clubhouse conviviality. He had a formidable collection of jokes to suit all occasions, and was a master at telling them.

In 1991, Andrew changed direction to finances, and worked for Sun Life of Canada before setting up his own business, Beacon Financial Services.  He retired in 2007, after pancreatic cancer was diagnosed. He was operated on in January of that year, undergoing a masterful piece of surgery called the Whipple procedure. This exceptionally gave him a further eight years of cheerful life; a temporary escape from a virulent cancer, which most people survive only a matter of months after diagnosis. He was under constant medical care, with chemotherapy playing a large part.

Andrew Bacchus was a highly organised administrator, and kept in touch with many friends from all aspects of his life. This was evident at the turn out for his funeral in Hilton, Cambridgeshire, beautifully organised by his three children, Helen, Amy and Humphrey. The vicar made particular mention of Andrew’s handling of his illness. Although he put this behind him, it was constantly with him; and he was an example to us all of someone bravely and defiantly continuing an active and amusing life in the face of imminent mortality.

© Crown Copyright