Maj Richard (Dick) Sergeant was born in Wimbledon in 1918. He was educated at Radley College and the Royal Military College Sandhurst before being commissioned into The Lincolnshire Regiment which, in 1946, became The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. He fought in North Africa and Italy. Recounting his stories of the Second World War, he would complain that he had been shelled by his brother who happened to be serving in Italy at the same time; his brother being a member of the Royal Artillery.

After the war, he attended training at the Staff College at Camberley and then saw service in Malaya where he served as a Company Commander. In his Army career he saw service many times in Germany. Whilst The Royal Lincolns were stationed at Minden he was Battalion Second-in Command, overseeing the amalgamation with the Northamptons and the subsequent move to Watchet in 1960. A keen golfer, it was whilst he was in Germany that he honed his golf skills, getting a hole in one at RAF Bruggen.

On retirement Dick worked as a Retired Officer in Rheindahlen and Dusseldorf before finally settling in Fleet, near the North Hants Golf Club. He was great caravaner, a self-taught cook – apple pie being his forte – a keen gardener taking great pride in his lawn and carried out a never ending fight against the moss and pine needles. He was an expert on opera and jazz and had a fine collection of records. He loved football and Sky Sports and would watch at least three matches a day, though towards the end he did fall asleep during Spanish football!

He was, of course, a great family man, shrewd with his finances, and he led a simple and frugal life, so as to be able to help where he could. With the aid of the Times Crossword he kept himself mentally alert, although he found adjusting to modern technology and political correctness a little trying.

Dick Sergeant died on the 8th February 2012 at the age of 93. He married Catherine Ann Whitehead, in Bradford, in March 1947; she predeceased him and he is survived by sons Anthony, Philip and daughter Caroline.