Tributes paid to the last Commanding Officer of the XX Lancashire Fusiliers

Colonel David Lloyd-Jones, a World War Two veteran who was awarded the OBE, died at home near Forfar, Scotland, on February 6.

He was the last Commanding Officer (CO) of the XX Lancashire Fusiliers when, in 1968, the battalion was amalgamated with others to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Col Lloyd-Jones was also commanding officer of Bury’s regimental depot, marching the regiment out of the Wellington Barracks depot for the last time before it closed in 1961.

His friend and colleague, retired Major John Steeds, said: “David was a remarkable man and an officer with great skills, compassion and a friend to so many of us.

“He was a passionate supporter of our regiment, to which he gave so much of his time, support and leadership.

“It is no exaggeration to say that many of us looked on him as the father of the regiment.”

Col Lloyd-Jones, who was born on December 29, 1924, in Lincolnshire, had been fighting cancer for some time.

His wife Helen, to whom he was married for 61 years, died last year and he leaves three children – Jock, Peter and Caroline – and seven grandchildren.

After his school, Wellington College, was bombed in an air raid in 1940, Col Lloyd-Jones signed up to the Home Guard at the age of 16, as a despatch rider.

After the war, he spent four years in the oil industry in Iran before joining the XX Lancashire Fusiliers in 1952.

In 1959, he was appointed commanding officer of the regimental depot in Bury, training national service recruits for active service anywhere in the world.

Major Steeds, who lives in Berkshire, said: “He told me recently ‘I think commanding the depot was probably one of the best jobs I ever managed to do in my life, because I did so much for so many people’.”

From Bury, Col Lloyd-Jones was posted to the Tower of London before the highlight of his career came in 1967 when he was appointed CO of the battalion.

But while he was serving as CO in Hong Kong he was told the battalion, which was formed in 1688, was to be disbanded when they left the colony.

The XX Lancashire Fusiliers had previously formed, with three other fusilier regiments, the Fusilier Brigade in 1961.

Major Steeds said: “David said it nearly broke his heart being asked to dismantle all those years of bravery, tradition and pride.

“He ensured all the soldiers and officers were interviewed and whenever possible posted to the unit and job they wanted and were suited to. Hundreds of Fusiliers will always be grateful for this.”

After leaving command of the battalion, he was awarded the OBE and, following an appointment at the MOD and positions in Aldershot, he left the Army in 1978.

Then Col Lloyd-Jones moved to Scotland and ran Glamis Castle in Angus, the Queen Mother’s family home – meeting the Queen Mother many times.

He still served on the Regimental Council, helping ensure the Fusilier Museum was moved to the centre of Bury and that a memorial garden was created.

Major Steeds added: “David dedicated much of his ability and the passion to the regiment. He always put his soldiers and the regiment first, and never his own career.

“Bury was so important to him.”

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Glover, Lancashire’s regimental secretary for the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, said: “I knew David well and he was always ready to offer words of advice because of his wealth of experience.

“He knew, and was highly regarded by, many veterans in the Bury area.”

There are plans for some of Col Lloyd-Jones’ ashes to be scattered in the Wellington Barracks’ memorial gardens, next to the Quartermaster’s Store in Bolton Road – the last vestige of the Wellington Barracks after the rest was demolished.

A public thanksgiving service will take place at St John’s Episcopal Church in Forfar at noon on April 7.