Ex Warrant Officer Class 2 Peter William Denny passed away in hospital on the 29th May 2020 after a brave fight against cancer.

Peter William Denny was born in Southwold Suffolk on the 19th May 1947. Pete was the youngest of three brothers and they all served with the Regiment and their service covered nearly 150 years of service to the Regiment, Queen and country. Following in his brothers footsteps Peter enlisted in Ipswich on the 7th August 1962 and started his career as a Junior Leader in Oswestry. During his time at the Junior Leaders he was selected for the Shooting Team and thus began a long and distinguished shooting career.

On completion of his Junior Leader service and after training he joined C Company of the 1st Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment in Aden on an operational tour. On completion of that tour Pete moved with the Vikings to Celle in West Germany where they become a mechanised Infantry unit.

In 1966 Pete applied for Parachute training and was seconded to The 1st Bn Parachute Regiment until returning to the Vikings in 1969. During his time with 1 Para he completed another operational tour when his unit were posted to Aden to cover the withdrawal. During his time with 1 Para Pete was selected for their shooting team and gained valuable Bisley experience. This proved to be a bonus when he re-joined the Vikings as their team was very much in the fledgling stage and Pete’s knowledge and experience provided a benchmark for us to work on.

The Vikings were stationed in Catterick when Pete re-joined them and he joined Support Company with the Anti-Tank Platoon. In early 1970 the Battalion were deployed to Londonderry for a 2 year Operational tour and Pete went with them.

During the NI Tour the Battalion Shooting Team competed in the Northern Ireland Meeting which provided some interesting competition between us and 1 Para. The Vikings won the Rifle match and gained considerable experience at shooting in the rain!

Following on from NI the Vikings were posted to Cyprus for 2 years, the unit was split between Episcope and Dhekelia, with Support Company securing the Dhekelia end of the Island. A sunshine reward after NI one could think, however training in Sharjah and Kenya kept us from getting bored. Sport was a big part of life in Cyprus and Pete was very much a team player; it didn’t matter if it was football or darts and many other games in between he always gave his best effort on the pitch and at the social event to follow.

During his time in Cyprus Pete met and courted Sue and they were eventually married in Dhekelia.

After Northern Ireland the Battalion was able to get stuck into various competitions with a vengeance, and the Shooting Team was sent to Bisley; unfortunately the team was unable to form up for training until ten days before the Army Championships and this cost us. However Pete was in the team that won the Royal Ulster Rifles Cup and we were now bringing silver back from Bisley.

Pete was an excellent shot on all weapons and got into the Army Hundred for the Rifle on several occasions, also the SMG 30 and the Machine Gun 30. He was an excellent team player and was always one of the first names on the list when the squad was put together. Pete represented the Battalion Team over two decades.

After Cyprus the Vikings became the AMLF Battalion and 4 years in Tidworth with numerous trips to Norway for Arctic Warfare training was on the cards. In the first half of 1974 the Vikings along with Pete were again deployed to NI for yet another Operational tour.

During the 70’s Pete was promoted to Sergeant and took over a Platoon in B Company before moving to 6 R Anglian as a PSI; during his time with the unit he trained and coached their team for Bisley. He returned to the Vikings in time to take up as the Support Team with the Close Observation Platoon for the Belfast tour. When the Vikings returned to Germany Pete was posted to D Company as the CQMS, before being posted to the Depot at Basingborne as a Platoon Commander and promotion to WO2.

Pete had a full career of many years exemplary service; along the way he collected many skills and saw active service in a number of overseas Theatres. He took great pleasure in passing on his vast knowledge and was a Master Coach, and Sniper Instructor amongst other disciplines.

On completion of his 22 years’ service he was selected for the Long Service List and moved to Cyprus for five years. This was followed by a tour as RQMS at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst with Victory College. Pete’s final posting was as an Estate Manager in Paderborn, Germany. Here he used his tact and discretion to deal with the myriad of problems that had to be resolved daily. He was liked and respected by all those that he came into contact with and maintained an excellent rapport with the families that he was responsible for.

The Regimental Ethos states that ‘We are a county based Regiment bound together by a closely-knit family spirit. Our approach is classless, based on mutual respect and trust, where developing and believing in our soldiers is paramount. We are a forward looking, self-starting and welcoming team for whom the mission remains key’.

I can think of no man that epitomises that ethos more than Pete along with his brothers.

During his military career Pete was an asset to all of the units that he served with, he was respected by his peers and contemporises alike and he always maintained the very highest standards of military professionalism and tradition.

After leaving the service Pete was employed with Norfolk Army Cadet Force before eventually retiring for good, and dedicating his life to visiting his children and grandchildren around the world; his son Mark was in the forces and Joanne married a US Marine.

Pete was a regular attendee at Regimental re-unions and maintained his immaculate dress code even in civilian attire and he always made you feel welcome with his well-established smile and always a joke or two.

Due to the Covid restrictions attendance at his funeral was restricted to immediate family only; however 17 former Vikings just happened to be in the cemetery at the time of his funeral. Many of us will have our own memories of Pete;

As a soldier; totally professional at all times
As a Viking and a Paratrooper; a true legend
And as a person; a real gentleman, a lovely man and a true friend.

Pete was very much a family man and our thoughts are very much with his wife Sue, his son Mark, his daughter Joanne and his grandchildren at this difficult time.