Eldred was born in Repton Derbyshire on the 15th of April 1928. He was educated at Charterhouse where he excelled at games.
On leaving school he enlisted into the General Service Corps but in December 1946 he re-enlisted on a Regular Army Engagement for five years as a regular, into the Rifle Brigade, only to be selected for a Commission.
At Sandhurst he was commissioned into the 4th Hussars in 1948 at Colchester, then sailing with the Regiment to Malaya, on the Troop Ship ‘Dilwara’, he shared a cabin with Jock Colman.
He was slightly wounded in the very early days in Malaya and had to spend some time in hospital in Kuala Lumpur during October and November 1948.
Returning to duty in April 1949 he was appointed A.D.C.to to the GOC Malaya District and held this appointment until early 1950 when he was sent to Bovington on a wireless course, this happily allowed him to marry Camilla in December 1950.
Returning to the Regiment in Malaya they found themselves sailing back with the Regiment to Tidworth at the end of that year before again being posted away to the RAC Training Regiment in Catterick in 1953.
October 1954 brought a return to Regimental duty in Hohne for the next two years. Eldred’s last posting was to the Mons Officer Cadet School, he then decided to leave the Army and joined the reserve in 1958.
Thereafter his friend and sole executor Dr A.J.P Butler CBE writes of Eldred and Camilla;
“After leaving the Army in 1958, Eldred and Camilla farmed for a short time near Newbury in Berkshire. But in 1964 they moved to Gloucestershire when they purchased Ryelands Farm, which has remained their home to this day. He was an active farmer for many years. It is difficult to think of any two people being more compatible. They shared so many common interests, outside their home such as hunting, racing and fly fishing.
Eldred was a first-class horseman; he rode in many point-to-points and amateur steeplechases including winning at least one race at Cheltenham. Soon after arriving at Ryelands, he constructed a fishing lake that was regularly stocked with trout. He was able to pursue his love of fly fishing and also to share his lake with friends.
Eldred died on 17 July 2009 in his charming home Ryelands Farm, Taynton, and Gloucestershire.
