Obituary for Brigadier Bill Deller OBE
Bill was born in Whittlesford and brought up at Rectory Farm in Thriplow – the family farm, which is still farmed by his brother George and his family. He loved the farm, working with the horses and cattle, and especially helping with the harvest. He loved the land and the wildlife it supported and he adored field sports.
Although he never farmed directly himself, it is telling, that when asked, on the numerous forms that he had to fill in during his military service, to list his interests, he always put farming first. This would be followed by rugby, which he was fanatical about, cricket and, occasionally, opera.
He enlisted in June 1945, as a volunteer, at the age of 17 and a half. His brother said that he had always wanted to join the army. The war in Europe had just ended, but he had been a member of the Home Guard and had already qualified for the Defence medal. Having been to the County High Grammar School, he was quickly identified as officer material and sent for officer training the following January. He was commissioned into the Suffolk Regiment and posted to the first battalion, in Egypt, in October 1946. It is a remarkable fact that he would serve for another 36 years, but only seven of them would be in the United Kingdom.
Egypt was followed by Palestine (where as a young platoon commander he was mentioned in despatches), then Greece, and then Malaya. In 1950 he was posted to the Royal Norfolk Regiment which was stationed in BAOR, and he went with them to Korea, doing a number of jobs including mortar platoon commander and adjutant. In 1952 he returned to the Suffolks, again in Malaya. They then moved to Trieste for a year, before the Battalion was posted to BAOR in 1954.
He was clearly a sparky young officer. His confidential reports tell of a cheerful (that word is repeated frequently) and energetic young officer, who was not easily rattled and had a good sense of responsibility. However, more than one of his commanding officers noted that he could be a bit dogmatic and that he didn’t suffer fools gladly!
In 1956 he had been selected to attend the Army Staff College at Camberley, so he did a short spell as a staff captain with 21 Infantry Brigade in BAOR, before going there in 1957.
At this stage Bill had been serving abroad, continually on the move, for ten years, much of it on active service, and this was a welcome home posting.
Camberley was followed by two years as the Brigade Major of 161 Infantry Brigade, a TA Brigade based in Colchester. There, he met Miss Deidre Handley, a newly commissioned officer in the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps at the Colchester Military Hospital. They were married in 1959. It was a long and very happy marriage, and many of his friends attended their golden wedding celebrations in 2009. She was the model army wife following him through thick and thin and supporting him in every subsequent posting. She featured regularly, and favourably, in his confidential reports, particularly in the later years on the diplomatic circuit.
Overseas postings continued. They spent two years in Aden with the Aden Protectorate Levies, where their daughter, Geraldine (Gerry), arrived on the scene, and then a year in Fort Leavenworth attending the United States Army Command and General Staff Course, before he was posted back to his regiment, which by this time was the first battalion of the First East Anglian Regiment.
In the modern regimental era, although now over 50 years ago, he will be best remembered as the Company Commander of A Coy in Aden. His knowledge of arabic, the country and the Arabs, following his experience with the APL, was invaluable and both the commanding officers he served under greatly appreciated this, and sought his advice.
All the officers in his company considered themselves lucky to have him as their company commander. And indeed most of his soldiers felt the same. His officers remember a kind, supportive company commander who knew their strengths and limitations; who was a great leader and set a fine example, whatever the circumstances.
One subaltern commented that he was one of an elite group of officers who helped to forge the unique character of the new Royal Anglian Regiment, bringing with them the highest possible standards of their respective former, proud Regiments.
Then it was back to America where Bill served for three years on the British Army Staff in Washington, as; he put it, MA to the MA! Unsurprisingly, he made a huge success of this job and was graded “outstanding” – the commander of the British Army Staff, a two star General, noting amongst other things his “…ability to memorise facts in an almost encyclopaedic fashion”. The Americans loved him for his forthrightness and his, and Deidre’s, quintessential Britishness!
Bill was disappointed not to get command of a battalion. However he was given what was, arguably, a much trickier job. He had to run, for six months, the Royal Anglian Depot at Bury St Edmunds, whilst still training recruits, then close it down and create the new Queen’s Division Depot at Bassingbourn. This involved handling the sensitivities of the other two large Regiments, the Queens Regiment and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, with tact (not always Bills’ strongest point) and diplomacy. This created a training unit of some 950 all ranks – the first of the new Large Regiment Infantry Division Depots. The Divisional Brigadier, who fully recognised the challenges, noted that “….he spared neither himself, nor those under him, in setting up a home worthy of the Queen’s Division.”
For this, he was awarded a thoroughly well deserved OBE.
The last 10 years of his service, like the first 10, were spent entirely serving abroad. First, it was for 3 years with the Americans, again, as the Senior British Liaison Officer at the Headquarters of the United States Army in Europe, at Heidelberg. His records show pages of the appreciation which senior American officers felt for what he (and Deidre) did.
Then it was three years as the Defence Attaché in Cairo. This was yet another job of which Bill made a huge success. The ambassador of the time wrote: “…..Colonel Deller is the best Defence Attaché who has served me in my three posts as Ambassador and I cannot remember working with an abler or more effective Attaché”
The CinC near East, following a visit to Cairo in 1975, took the unusual step of writing direct to the Military Secretary: “….I would like you to know how greatly impressed I was by Deller, and the way in which he and his wife are representing us in Cairo. Both professionally and socially they are an outstanding pair and I believe we are very fortunate to have them in Egypt at a time when good representation is so important.”
The next two years in Rhiendalen, where Bill served as the senior staff officer covering Int and Sy at HQ BAOR, must have seemed a bit of an anticlimax, except that at that time the IRA were quite active in Germany, targeting British servicemen. Of course he put in another solid performance, but it was only a prelude to the Grand Finale when, for his last two years, he was the Defence Attaché in Islamabad, finally earning the long overdue rank of Brigadier.
Even President Zia sought and respected his advice. Bill tells the story of how his brief case, containing a draft of his final report to the Foreign Office on the state of things in Pakistan, mysteriously disappeared and was then “found”. It was, of course, the work of the Pakistan Security Services. On his valedictory interview, the President tacitly admitted this and grudging acknowledged: “….you got us right!”
It is interesting to note that in his later reports, the words “cheerful” and “energetic”, became “astute”, “shrewd”, “highly intelligent”, and “well read” etc. It was a remarkable, successful, and unusual career.
Bill and Deidre retired to Isleham, in his beloved Cambridgeshire. Although he worked for ten years for the British Heart Foundation, regularly exceeding his fundraising targets and expanding its activities, he could now indulge in the things he really loved: his family, his friends, his field sports and his Regiment.
Bill was passionate about The Suffolk Regiment – its history, its traditions, its campaigns and battles, its museum and chapel and most importantly, its old comrades, who affectionately referred to him as “Uncle Bill”. He led, or took part in, numerous battlefield tours and developed a special relationship with the people of the little village of Colleville-Montgomery where the Suffolks had fought their famous action on D-Day, to capture the German headquarters commanding all the coastal artillery units in that part of Normandy, code named “Hillman”. They became the French Friends of the Suffolk Regiment – Les Amis.
It was fortunate for the Suffolk Regiment Association, of which he was President for around 20 years, that Cambridgeshire did not support a regular county regiment, for it would have been deprived of a loyal and hard working servant with an immense knowledge of all things “regimental”.
Field sports were a great love of Bill’s, all his life. Although he gave up his gun some years ago, he derived enormous pleasure from running the family shoot at Thriplow, where, woe betide anyone who shot one of his precious grey partridges! His house was a shrine to the roe deer, for he also loved lowland stalking and visitors were impressed by the quantity and quality of the heads displayed there. In fact, the district valuer was a little unnerved to find them peering at him from every corner, when he valued the house for probate!
When well into his eighties, he landed a gigantic salmon on the River Tay. It was an epic battle which the ghillie didn’t think he’d win. Perhaps he didn’t know Bill that well! The catch and release policy prevented the fish from being weighed, but the ghillie later said that he had landed a 32lb salmon earlier in the season and “…the Brigadier’s was bigger!” Anyone who knows anything about salmon will know that that was a huge fish!
Deidre predeceased him by some four years. He had supported her through a long illness and it much saddened his later years. However he remained as active as ever, doing all the things he loved, dying quite suddenly, after a short illness on 27th June 2016.
Although he had tough, brusque exterior, underneath he was a gentle, thoughtful, kind and highly intelligent man, who worked incredibly hard for the things he believed in. He had no side to him – no prejudices. It didn’t matter whether you were a President or a Private – a Ghillie or a Gamekeeper – an Egyptian General or a French farmer – we were all treated exactly the same!