Noel Fairhurst died of a heart attack in Malta on 19 June 1976.

He joined the 7th Hussars from Sandhurst in August 1935 and remained with the Regiment until 1938 when appointed to the Staff of the 7th and later 4th Armoured Brigade until his capture in 1941.

From then until April 1945 he was a prisoner of war in Italy and Germany. After the war, he spent some time with the Regiment and then returned to the Staff, retiring in October 1962.

Noel was a keen Polo and games player, good value, amusing and an asset at any party. One of the Regiments’ more colourful characters and popular with the International set in Cairo and Alexandria. He had a penchant for good living and succeeded in teaching some senior officers that discomfort is not a prerequisite for efficiency.

Noel, no mean dancer himself, was largely responsible for all of the most successful dances given by the 7th Hussars in Fallingbostel.

It was good to know that his last years were spent in Malta where he lived quietly and contentedly on one of the more remote and unspoilt sides of the Island spending much of his time boat building, swimming and seeing a few of his old friends from time to time.

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