Nigel Weatherall died in May after a short illness. He was born in 1891, was educated at Marlborough and The Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned into the 7th Hussars in 1911.
He sailed with the Regiment for India shortly afterwards and served at Bangalore, Secunderabad and Meerut till 1916 when he went on a Staff course.
Obtaining a good qualification, his first Staff appointment was in India, but late in 1917, he became Staff Captain of the 11th Indian Cavalry Brigade in Mesopotamia, one of whose Regiments was to be 7th Hussars.
He did extremely good work in the very difficult administrative conditions during the operations on the Euphrates, and the advance to Shargat and Mosul in 1918, and was awarded a well-deserved O.B.E.
He rejoined the Regiment at Mhow in 1920, and after a spell as Military Attaché in Madrid, commanded “B” Squadron for some years, succeeding to the command of the Regiment just before it sailed for Egypt in 1935.
Almost immediately afterwards the 7th Hussars were told they would lose their horses and become mechanised, and before he left in 1939, this task was completed successfully. His hard work as Commanding Officer had, undoubtedly, much to do with the Regiment being fit for war in 1940 in its new role.
He was given command of an Armoured Training Regiment in 1939 and held similar appointments till 1945 when he retired and settled near Catterick where he had served for some years.
In his earlier days, he was a useful and hardworking polo player and, as a subaltern in India, spent much time big game shooting. Whenever he was in England he took every chance to hunt and was always a keen race-goer. After his retirement, he was a Steward of several race meetings in Yorkshire, and he also did much valuable work for the Regiment as Chairman of the Old Comrades Association.
He had a wide circle of friends and was a kind and generous host. His wife died a few years ago and he is survived by two sons, both of whom served in the Regiment, and a daughter.
