Major Colin Ladley

Obituary for Major Colin Ladley

Major Colin Ladley was born on the 4th of May 1931. A son of a factory worker and having left school at 15, either side of National Service he worked for the council overseeing ration books, as an estate agent and finally for an insurance company.

But his three years in the Beds and Herts, including a tour of Egypt, had caught his imagination and he rejoined the Army in 1955 already in the rank of Sergeant. He was good with figures and the battalion spotted that skill. As a result he served as both Signal Platoon Sergeant and Colour Sergeant before joining the 4th Battalion (The Tigers) as CSM Support Company.

By this time he had served in Goslar, Singapore, Malaya (including the Jungle Warfare School) and Ballykinler. He was promoted to the 4th Battalion’s RQMS in Malta, and finished his time with the 3rd Battalion (The Pompadours) in Paderborn having been commissioned. He served in Aden, Egypt, the Malayan Emergency, for the UN in Cyprus and, of course, spent a good deal of time in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.

Unusually for a quartermaster-commissioned officer he was both the Signals Officer and the Mortar Platoon Commander, before joining the well-trodden path and becoming the Families’ Officer in Catterick, his final post.

He left the Regiment in his forties, when he and his wife, Eileen, bought a pub in Hertfordshire, and subsequently three post offices/shops. They retired to Great Bentley in Essex where Colin pursued his life-long passion … of playing golf. Notably he was both the Senior and then the Club Captain of Stoke-by-Nayland golf course.

He will be remembered for his camaraderie, professionalism, good humour (after ten o’clock in the morning) and always, always having one hand on a set of clubs. He is survived by his wife and two sons, Kevin and Roland.