Maj John Henry Housego of Norwich, died suddenly, on Thu 3 Jul 08, aged 76, following admission to hospital. Born in Norwich, John served in uniform from 1945 to 1993, beginning at the age of 13 years. He joined the Norwich Air Training Corps Cadets in 1949 and moved on to serve as a Regular with the RAF, achieving the rank of Cpl. In 1962 he changed the colour of his uniform on joining 4th Royal Norfolk Regt TA. John served with HQ Company as Drum Major until the 4th Battalion was disbanded but remained as a member of the cadre with the rank of Sgt. In 1972 the eight-man Cadre recruited and formed ‘A Royal Norfolk Company’ 6th Battalion The Royal Anglian Regt. He served until 1982 with A Company with the ranks of Sgt to CSM. At the age of 50 years, he was retired but moved on to join Norfolk ACF as CSM. In 1983 he was commissioned and appointed as a Lt. In 1984 John was promoted to Capt and moved to HQ 3 Company at Dersingham. On promotion to Maj he transferred to Norfolk Cadet Artillery as OC. He finally retired in 1993. From 1974 he was Secretary of the 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regt Old Comrades Association.

Twenty comrades, spanning 46 years of his service, were proud to form a Guard of Honour, as his Royal Norfolk flag draped coffin, with an accompanying R Norfolk wreath and his beret, entered Horsham St Faith’s crematorium on 15 July to the tune ‘Your love echoes around the world’. In attendance was the black-draped Norwich Branch Standard, carried by Ray Segon. There was standing room only at the most moving service conducted by Mrs Penny Rennie. After the hymn ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ the bible reading was the parable of the Good Samaritan. We heard that in 1955 he married Joyce and gave a whole-hearted commitment to the Territorial Army, Cadets, the Regimental Association, the local community and his family. A talented artist he ran art classes, was a keen gardener and enjoyed his dogs. His son Martin said: ‘Our fondest memory is of every day we spent with him. He aimed to give service but not for reward. He was proud of his children and grandchildren and gave them good guidance.’ After the final hymn ‘The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended’, the Commendation and Committal we departed to the exit music ‘My Happiness’. Col Paul Raywood TD DL was represented by Maj John L Raybould TD. The Order of Service cover was titled ‘Happy Memories’ and quoted the familiar, but most apt words: ‘You can shed tears that I have gone or you can smile that I have lived.’ John was ‘always there’ and will be sadly missed. He is survived by his widow Joyce, son Martin, daughter Beverley and grandchildren Deanne and Shane.

Many memories of John were recalled after the service at the Bob Carter Centre. Tributes were paid by Capt Philip Bujak: ‘I remember John Housego well in my time at Dereham with 1st Platoon and also Company HQ. You are right, he was always there and was always a gentleman’; and Capt Mike Allison: ‘I am saddened to learn of John’s sudden death. He was a good CSM to me.’ Col David Eyles: ‘As a young man, I joined the Thetford Platoon. My first weekend was based at Bodney Camp and on the Saturday night I was ‘volunteered’ to be on guard from midnight to 0300 hrs. I was told by my NCO to remind the CSM to book me down for the overtime so the next morning I did as instructed. John said the matter was in hand. Later, he handed me a note stating IOU £1 written on a sheet of MOD toilet paper! John got me again while on exercise in the Battle area. He addressed the assembled company, asking who held an HGV licence, so up I jumped up: ‘Me sir, I do.’ ‘Good boy,’ he said, ‘drive over there and get me a cup of tea from the cook.’ It was about 20 feet away. Some years later I had started to sharpen up a bit, thankfully. It was a bitterly cold November day as we left Norwich TA centre at 6am heading for Colchester for a weekend of shooting. John decided to ride shotgun with me in the ammo truck. We soon realised the heater was broken and the temperature in the cab soon dropped below freezing. John took command. His decision was to raise the temperature by filling our two large pipes with his famous ‘shag’ and we puffed our way down to Cavalry Barracks. On arrival Lt Raybould sent two soldiers over carrying fire extinguishers. ‘What the hell do you two want?’ barked the CSM. They replied: ‘We were told to run over here as the cab is so full of smoke you must be on fire!’ Consequently they spent the evening on guard duty for being so soft while we went down to the pub. All of the 6th Bn have fond memories of CSM Housego. He was always firm but fair and it was an honour to have served with him, and I am proud to call him a friend.’

JLR