Tom Unett, who died on 11 September 1990, was commissioned into the 3rd Hussars in 1949, he was joining a Regiment in which many of his forbears had served with distinction during the 19th century, particularly during the Sikh Wars.
However although Tom’s family had close links with the Regiment, the Army was not his first choice and following his early education at Cheltenham he spent two years at HMS Worcester with the intention of entering the Royal Navy. The cessation of hostilities in 1945 put an end to this, and he went on to Millfield and then to Sandhurst.
When I joined the Regiment I went to ‘B’ Squadron, and so it was not until Tom and I were serving together with the 65th Training Regiment that I really got to know him and enjoyed his friendship. Everything Tom did, be it soldiering, riding, fishing, shooting or sailing, he did with great application and energy.
My fondest memory of Tom will is his participation in the Royal Tournament when riding Silver Cannon. He competed in the Sword, Lance and Revolver Competition event. In the mid-1950s it was highly unusual to find someone not from a mounted unit competing in this event, but much to Tom’s surprise and our collective delight he achieved third place.
Shortly after amalgamation in 1958, Tom retired from the Army, and following an initial period in industry, went into fundraising, the career which he was to follow for most of his civilian life. Shortly after he left the Army he married Josie, and they settled in Tarporley.Those of us from the Regiment who were at Tom’s
Thanksgiving Service learned only then of the pillar of the local community he had become as a sidesman at the local church and a member of the Parochial Church Council.
Tom was undoubtedly one of the nicest people I have been lucky enough to meet and it came as no surprise to those of us who were privileged to enjoy his friendship to learn of the cheerfulness and forbearance with which he bore his final illness.
Those of us who knew him will not forget him, and our sympathy is extended to Josie and her children in their great loss.
