Eric joined the Army aged 18 and served with the Sherwood Foresters in the Suez Canal Zone at Camp Tel-el-Kebir in 1952/53. Anecdotally, he was reported to have spent time on duty in neighbouring Libya where he helped organise a local Scout Group for boys. He never received his GSM until years later when to his complete surprise he was awarded it by the Lady Lord Lieutenant for Lincolnshire, Mrs. Bridget Cracroft-Eley during a Cadet exercise at Longmoor.

On leaving the regular Army, Eric joined the 4/6th Royal Lincolnshire Regiment Territorial Army, later becoming a Warrant Officer in the Royal Anglian Regiment (TA). Eric’s civilian employment was as a Civil Servant Administrative Officer working with the MOD. Always a good administrator, he became Chief Clerk in what was then the Lincolnshire County Territorial Army HQ in Stonefield House, Lincoln.

He also served in the TA Parachute Regiment qualifying for his Red Beret and Parachute Wings. It was while still in the TA he attended his first Army Cadet Force (ACF) camp at Ripon in 1965. In June 1968 he enrolled into Lincolnshire ACF rising through the ranks of Adult Instructor. In keeping with his First Aid interest, he attended the inaugural First Aid Instructors course at the ACF HQ at Frimley Park in 1978. He was promoted to Regimental Sergeant Major Instructor in 1983, a post he filled till January 1987. Over many years he was involved in the planning and organising of Spring and Autumn Camps in Wales, in North and East Yorkshire.

In 1984 he was appointed County First Aid Training Officer and in 1987 he became the County Public Relations Officer (PRO), but still maintained his commitment to the county’s First Aid training. Eric was perhaps the most diligent of PROs in engaging with local media, in print and radio. Indeed, such was his dedication to publicising the ACF there was almost always a weekly article or diary entry concerning the ACF’s activities in the Lincolnshire Echo newspaper. After many years dedicated service Eric was awarded a second bar to his Army Cadet Force Medal.

Eric was one of those rare people who commit themselves almost totally to the service of others. His dedication to the Army Cadet Force was exemplary in his selfless efforts to give young adults the absolute best in training and education during their time in the Cadet Force. Thousands of cadets, as well as Adult Instructors and Officers, will remember him with deep affection for his sound advice, guidance and his steadying paternal influence which makes the Cadet Force the success it is. Indeed, it was his family.

Eric was a very private man to the end, so it was a great surprise for the executors of his will to discover that he had left over £400,000 to various charities, including an immensely generous legacy to the Royal Anglian Regimental Museum. Colonel Nick Kelsey, who was himself a cadet under Eric’s supervision, with his fellow museum trustees will design a suitable memorial to Eric, whose hard-won medals will also go on display.