Major Roger Bogg Royal Leicestershire Regiment

Obituary for Major Roger Bogg

Major Roger Bogg, who was commissioned into The Royal Leicestershire Regiment as a National Service officer in 1951, has died. He was a Leicester man educated at Alderman Newton’s and Leicester Technical College. Roger arrived in the 1st Battalion in 1951 in Hong Kong and went with them to Korea as a platoon commander. This was a seriously testing introduction to soldiering for any young officer, as during the Korean War the Battalion suffered serious casualties with 55 killed and 167 wounded. Nevertheless, Roger later wrote that ‘he had found his natural habitat’. Clearly the comradeship and shared hardship of Army, and particularly Battalion life suited Roger. Having taken part in all the Battalion’s demanding operations in that distant campaign, he applied for and was granted a regular commission. He stayed in the Army for 17 years.

Roger served with 1st Battalion routinely over the next few years including a tour of duty in Iserlohn, but by the time the Battalion reached BAOR in 1962 – it was still the era of the Cold War – Roger had command of A Company, a job he did with panache showing much skill as a trainer and motivator. He himself was fit and strong and was throughout this period captaining the Battalion rugger team with his usual determination. Later in his career, he played hooker for the Army. Despite Roger’s admirable leadership, the Battalion XV was knocked out of the Army Championship in the BAOR semi-finals. After commanding A Company, Roger was appointed Adjutant to the redoubtable Lieutenant Colonel Mike Pallot, a demanding task, which he fulfilled with his usual efficiency and wit. Roger, already the father of four very active children, at this point opted for training as an interpreter and learned Hungarian, being accommodated in the house of a Hungarian Princess in Austria for six months. He was then posted to the Foreign Office at GCHQ where he again captained the Rugger XV.

After GCHQ, Roger was selected for Staff College, an important step in the development of an officer’s career, and in 1965, on the completion of the course, was posted to the Parachute Brigade Headquarters in the rank of Major. During his time there, and having completed many jumps, Roger was involved in a serious parachuting accident when his parachute failed to open properly. As a result Roger suffered severe damage to his hips and knees. Despite much rehabilitation, Roger was forced to leave the Army. It was typical of his attitude that whilst being put through the mill at Headley Court, he observed that ‘there is always someone else who is worse off’.

So with Sonya, four children, and no money, Roger set out on a ‘second life’ and threw himself with his usual energy into a new world; first of all qualifying and then working as a probation officer. It was during this period that he stood as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Aldershot, not winning the seat but increasing his party’s share of the vote. Roger always remained true to his political convictions, earning himself the nickname Roger the Red while at the Staff College. Roger then had the chance to take up the post of administrator at Cambridge University, at which he leapt. The job suited his skills admirably, although he found life at the University rather artificial, especially the constant social round. So, when the chance came to take up a similar post at Manchester University, he decided to take it, although this meant yet another move of house. Sadly it was one move too many for Sonya and she stayed on in Cambridge. As a result of his work at these two universities, Roger observed that ‘the administrators at Cambridge University wore Savile Row suits which they tried to make look like M and S, whilst the administrators at Manchester wore M and S suits which they tried to make look like Savile Row.

In fact, there were two universities in Manchester; The University of Manchester and The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). As part of his administrative duties, Roger was part of the group tasked with amalgamating the three business schools of the two universities. Despite considerable difficulties and many fears, the task was successfully achieved. In 2002 Roger was presented with the UMIST Medal by the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution, with particular reference to his help to, and bringing on, of young people. The Chairman of the Council in presenting the award said: ‘Roger’s is a considerable record of service, pervading the whole of his career has been a formidable mind, immense sympathy with the foibles of humankind, and a determination to do what he can to put the world to right.’ Few of us would disagree with this assessment.

After Roger moved to Manchester he met Angela, and they were most happily married for over 30 years. Together they regularly attended the Annual Officers’ Lunch and the Regimental Weekend. They have a son, Michael. Later in life Roger was deeply involved in his parish church, in Martin Luther King House in Manchester. He taught on numerous industrial relations courses, founded a drug treatment agency, was vice president of the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and was president of the Rotary Club. As someone else observed, Roger was congenitally incapable of retirement.

Roger Bogg was always his own man, a perfect example of ‘what you see is what you get’. Coming from humble beginnings (his mother was blind and his father deserted the family when Roger was 10), he never forgot his good fortune in winning that place at Alderman Newton’s. This, coupled with his own determination to do well, led to his gaining a regular commission in the Regiment having set out as a national serviceman. His views were very much informed by his early life, and Roger delighted in making irreverent remarks during conversations with some of his fellow and more privileged officers. In fact, in so doing, he acted as that leavening of the bread without which the Regimental loaf might have been heavy and less enjoyable. In much of what he did, Roger adopted this same approach to everyday events and activities but he always did it with a twinkle and entirely without malice, to the extent that one sometimes wondered if Roger had just said what in fact he had clearly just said!

His Regiment was his spiritual home and he only left the Army because his injuries had made him unfit for further service. In fact despite his physical difficulties, Roger did fight his way back to sufficient fitness to do some Rugby refereeing and, although he would have preferred to be in the midst of the scrum, (doing all those suspicious things that hookers do), teams that he was refereeing knew that there was nothing they could get away with in the scrum when Roger was in charge. Throughout his life his sporting passion was rugger – he became a stalwart Sale supporter – and latterly he loved to watch cricket (Lancashire) either on television or at the ground.

To Angela and to Roger’s five children we send our sympathy. We wish them to know the high regard in which we held Roger and hope that our affection for this unorthodox, generous and tough man, this man of many parts, will bring them comfort.