ROCHFORT-RAE, G E V Colonel
George Rochfort-Rae died tragically of injuries sustained in a road accident on 20 March 2008.
Appointed to the Regiment in 1948 he quickly proved himself a capable and energetic officer, who was to serve his regimental career in all three battalions and at the Guards Depot. He was Adjutant of the 3rd Battalion when it called up its reservists to sail to Malta, 900 strong, in preparation for the Suez campaign, which however fizzled out before it could be engaged. His Commanding Officer, Alec Gregory-Hood, wrote that he had the invaluable quality for a staff officer in welcoming his commander’s more fanciful ideas even though later he had to prove them impracticable. This quality, among others, led him into appointments across a wide spectrum of the military life: ADC to the CIGS, DAA & QMG in Hong Kong, Brigade Major in Berlin, Senior Major of the 2nd Grenadiers in Germany, infantry instructor at the Royal School of Artillery, and in due course to command of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force and the British Army Training Team in the Sudan, and to Headquarters Land Forces Cyprus as Colonel GS and Deputy Commander. In all he served with verve, good sense and extreme conscientiousness.
George will best be remembered as a small, compact mass of energy and purpose, constructed, it seemed, of rubber, leather and coiled spring. He boxed, he flew aeroplanes, he ran across country long after it was either wise or decorous to do so. He even appeared mounted on the Queen’s Birthday Parade in Berlin, in defiance of his commander's assertion that only he (the brigadier) was to be trusted on a horse. His retirement, such as it was, was spent out on the moors urging along youngsters on the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. He was said to be one of that breed of men who, if planted at Dover with the necessary connections, would light up the whole coastline from the Thames to Beachy Head.
A lifelong bachelor and devout Roman Catholic, George was an intensely private person, reserved, self-contained and self-deprecating. On a short acquaintance he might appear stern and humourless. But he was not. On very little provocation the creased features and the furrowed brow would crack open into the widest of grins, and he had a laugh to go with it. May he rest in peace.
Appointed to the Regiment in 1948 he quickly proved himself a capable and energetic officer, who was to serve his regimental career in all three battalions and at the Guards Depot. He was Adjutant of the 3rd Battalion when it called up its reservists to sail to Malta, 900 strong, in preparation for the Suez campaign, which however fizzled out before it could be engaged. His Commanding Officer, Alec Gregory-Hood, wrote that he had the invaluable quality for a staff officer in welcoming his commander’s more fanciful ideas even though later he had to prove them impracticable. This quality, among others, led him into appointments across a wide spectrum of the military life: ADC to the CIGS, DAA & QMG in Hong Kong, Brigade Major in Berlin, Senior Major of the 2nd Grenadiers in Germany, infantry instructor at the Royal School of Artillery, and in due course to command of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force and the British Army Training Team in the Sudan, and to Headquarters Land Forces Cyprus as Colonel GS and Deputy Commander. In all he served with verve, good sense and extreme conscientiousness.
George will best be remembered as a small, compact mass of energy and purpose, constructed, it seemed, of rubber, leather and coiled spring. He boxed, he flew aeroplanes, he ran across country long after it was either wise or decorous to do so. He even appeared mounted on the Queen’s Birthday Parade in Berlin, in defiance of his commander's assertion that only he (the brigadier) was to be trusted on a horse. His retirement, such as it was, was spent out on the moors urging along youngsters on the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. He was said to be one of that breed of men who, if planted at Dover with the necessary connections, would light up the whole coastline from the Thames to Beachy Head.
A lifelong bachelor and devout Roman Catholic, George was an intensely private person, reserved, self-contained and self-deprecating. On a short acquaintance he might appear stern and humourless. But he was not. On very little provocation the creased features and the furrowed brow would crack open into the widest of grins, and he had a laugh to go with it. May he rest in peace.
