Major John William Denny Royal Anglian Regiment

Obituary for Major John William Denny

John died at home on Monday 14th March 2016, aged 87. A Service in Celebration of his life was held at St Edmund’s Church, Southwold, on Wed 6th April 2016.

Conducted by The Rev Father Ken Reeve, he led the black draped Norwich Branch Standard, carried by John Steele, and the family into the church, filled to overflowing with standing room only.

Last Post and Reveille were both sounded by a family friend.

Ken said: ‘Like many others, I took John as a role model and mentor. He was my very first CSM – always immaculate, always strict, always, always fair and just, always approachable, a true gentleman, and the finest of soldiers – a true Royal Norfolk from toecap to cap badge of which he was justifiably proud.’

Maj David Spalding MBE observed: ‘If ever there was a mentor to me, John was that person.’

For many years, he led the Royal Norfolk Regiment contingent at the Memorial Gardens service at Westminster Abbey on the Thursday before Remembrance Sunday.

Likewise, John was a most invaluable source of information for the compilation of ‘Britannia and Castle’ obituaries for those with whom he had served in Korea and Hong Kong.

Always immaculately dressed, John was ‘always there’, with his wry sense of humour, great company and an invaluable fount of knowledge on all matters concerning The Royal Norfolk Regiment, especially concerning their majestic service in Korea. He maintained personal contact with his former Korea colleagues.

John was quite a character and loved by all who had the privilege to know him. We will not see his like again.

He is survived by his wife Maureen and son Simon.

Below is the majestic eulogy given by Brig Max Marriner.

There are leaders and there are those who are better led.

There are men who thrive at the front and in the lead, there are those who are happier to watch and follow.

There are men who would rather vacillate and debate and there are others who seize a problem, solve it, and then move on to the next challenge.

There are men who place their personal ambitions above the interests of all others and there are men who dedicate their lives and energies to the benefit of their country and comrades.

I am confident that everyone here today recognises John Denny as being one of those, all too rare, men who lived his life as an exemplar of ‘The Right Stuff.’

We should all strive to make the very best of our opportunities and John was a man who should have no fear in this regard. He touched the lives of a great many of us, left his mark and moved us all into a better place. Whether the slightly lost young officer, or anxious junior NCO embarking up the chain of command or the Commanding Officer seeking to make sure that his was a command remembered for excellence and progression rather than a short and brutal excursion into chaos – to have John in your corner was to be in a far stronger and more positive place than that gifted to others.

John was born on 17th June 1928 at Southwold, Suffolk, the son of Thomas and Alice.

He left school at 14 years of age and the period of 1939 to 1942 was greatly influenced by the War and the arrival of a great many evacuees to his home town. During these formative years John was apprenticed to a gas fitter, was a member of the Army Cadet Force where he held the rank of Cadet Company Sergeant Major (shades of things to come) and also managed to fit in a role as the runner for the local Home Guard.

At the age of 18 John was conscripted into General Service; attended basic training at Bury St Edmunds and was posted to RASC Aldershot where he volunteered for the Glider Pilot Regiment and qualified as a parachutist. He was posted to Kenya in September 1947 and whilst there was involved in the building of the Mackinnon Road Base. He returned home and was discharged in the August of 1948.

John re-enlisted in May 1949 and was badged to the Essex Regiment and employed as a Corporal Instructor at the East Anglian Brigade Depot. Early in 1951 he was posted to The 1st Battalion The Royal Norfolk Regiment at Dover Castle and sailed for Korea in the August of that same year. John was employed as Section Sergeant of the Medium Machine Gun Platoon where he earned the soubriquet of ‘Ace’ Denny in a US Army newspaper for his prowess with his two machine guns.

Following the Korean deployment John served firstly in Hong Kong – then back to Colchester, from there to Cyprus to deal with EOKA and then back to Iserlohn Germany via UK. In 1958 John was appointed the Battalion RQMS.

After his tour as RQMS, John moved to the Depot at Bury St Edmunds as the Training Company Sergeant Major and then, in early 1962, he joined the Rear Party of 1 E Anglian, moving once again, in November the same year, to take up the key appointment of Regimental Sergeant Major of 2nd Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment in Osnabruck.

In December 1963 John was commissioned and over the next 19 years served firstly with the Ugandan Army, held posts in Northern Ireland, was the Motor Transport Officer at The School of Infantry after which he returned to 3rd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment as Quartermaster. Thereafter, John was the Quartermaster for the 5th Battalion (V) The Royal Anglian Regiment in Peterborough, the Staff Quartermaster at 39 Infantry Brigade, the QM in Corsham in Wiltshire and finally at the Depot Queen’s Division Bassingbourn from where he retired on 30 June 1982.

After such a varied and active career characterised by success in each of his appointments, John and Maureen retired to Southwold where he became a Red Cross volunteer assessing aid applications and supported the charity in its work in Suffolk. He was also on the Board of The Southwold Trust whose role it is to dispense funds to deserving local charities and causes.

John was a staunch supporter of the Regiment, its Association and the many men with whom he had served with in his long career. He was a lynch pin in the annual reunion at North Elmham and he never failed to attend the annual Autumn Regimental Association dinner in Norwich – surrounded by and sitting with the members of his Medium Machine Gun Platoon. His presence at the annual Field of Remembrance outside Westminster Abbey was a fixture and one in which John always took great pride, making sure it was appropriately attended and correctly represented. John was also a very active member of the Regimental Association County Committee and guided a succession of Presidents – including myself – to ensure that the best interests of both old and young comrades were properly looked after and that the association remained relevant to both his generation and those that have come after.

Major John Denny achieved in his life more than most could hope for in two. His legacy lives on and influences both this generation and those to come. His leadership, loyalty, compassion, common sense and comradeship will always remain as a benchmark for others to aspire to. His example and personal standards will be reflected in all that we do and the generations of like-minded Royal Anglians who come after us. There is no finer legacy and I, like so many of you here today, will treasure the indelible imprint that John left on my life. John touched many, many lives. If yours was one of them, treasure that and honour his memory by passing on his legacy to the next generation of young men and women. In so doing we may yet make the world a better and more sensible place. And that, I know we can all agree, would be a very proper way to celebrate the remarkable life of Major John Denny – outstanding soldier, exceptional leader, staunch comrade and unfailing friend.

JLR and SJMM