Robert was born in Paris on 25 September 1932.
He was educated at Beaumont and joined The 8th Hussars in 1952 at Luneburg where he spent 18 months as a Troop Leader.
On leaving the 8th Hussars he joined the 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) TA.
In those days, as well as having to serve two years with the Regular Army, there was a requirement to serve a further three and a half with the TA.
However, the Sharpshooters insisted on a minimum of five years’ service, and by the end of his service, Robert had served at least ten years. He later commanded ‘C’ Squadron at Regents Park Barracks, Albany Street.
Once he returned from Luneburg he joined the North British Rubber Company where he stayed for about eight years. He then transferred to Buty1 Rubber which produced, among other products, plastic sheeting for agricultural purposes. Robert’s final job was with the DT1 in London.
In 1964 he married Elisabeth Fordham, and they had two sons. The marriage was dissolved in the 1980s.
Robert spent his final year living with his mother at her flat in the Temple (his father had been a barrister). After her death, he moved to Brixton where he lived in a flat owned by the City of London, which he was entitled to live in as a Freeman of the City of London.
In his later years, he rarely ventured out due to ill health.
This was a great change from his youth when Col Guy Lowther said of him that he would be fearless in battle and that there would be ‘no stopping him’. That was if the ‘Kipper’ was awake. He missed an Adjutant’s Parade by sleeping in.
Robert died on 22 September 2007.
