Ivor died on 31 December 1998, aged 57.

Sgt JI Madden
Sgt JI Madden

He enlisted at Omagh on 5 February 1959. After initial training with the 16th/5th Queen’s Royal Lancers and the 3rd Dragoon Guards, he joined ‘C’ Squadron of the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars in June 1959 at Hohne.

In April 1960 he was part of the composite squadron that spent five and a half months at Castlemartin, looking after the Territorial Army. This was a very happy time. He moved with the Regiment from Hohne to Tidworth in May 1961, prior to the move to the Middle East.

In July 1961 he was one of that party of 54 under Lt PAJ de Clermont that moved to Aden to reinforce the Carabiniers who were preparing for a crisis brewing in Kuwait. In the event, the tension eased, and after a few weeks, the party returned to Tidworth.

He sailed with the Regiment from Southampton on the SS Oxfordshire on Balaklava Day 1961 for Aden. He was still with ‘C’ Squadron. He spent three months in Sharjah. On arrival in Ipoh in October 1962, he was sent on a temporary posting to the Far East Training Centre at Nee Soon Camp, Singapore. In December 1962 he was in Brunei on active service with ‘B’ Squadron.

In March 1963 he returned to ‘C’ Squadron in Kuching, remaining there until July, when they returned to Singapore. He flew home on 17 September 1964, having picked up GSM 1918 with Clasp Brunei and GSM 1962 with Clasps for Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. After leave, he rejoined the Regiment in Wolfenbuttel, joining Support Troop.

At the end of 1965, he did a vigilant controller instructor’s course at Bovington. He was appointed lance corporal in January 1966 and returned to a sabre troop. He married Anne in January 1967.

He did a gunnery instructor’s course at Lulworth in early 1967 and a BI course in the autumn of 1968. He rejoined the Regiment in Lulworth, joining Range Troop and later Provost Troop. He was promoted to corporal in July 1969. He was on the advance party to Paderborn in June 1970 and was now in ‘A’ Squadron, Admin Troop.

He was promoted to Sergeant in June 1972 and became the provost sergeant. In 1973 Starry went as a PSI to the North Irish Horse at Dunmore Park Camp, returning to the Regiment in Paderborn in July 1974. In 1976 he was a member of the QM’s staff. In October 1977 he took redundancy and retired to Ulster.

He joined the Ulster Defence Regiment, later the Royal Irish Regiment, in October 1978 and served with them until taking his discharge in May 1994. He then retired to enjoy life and his family. Starry was a loyal Irish Hussar who kept in touch with his chums after he had left.

Related topics

  1. A short history of The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars
  2. Timeline: Aden and The Persian Gulf 1961
  3. Timeline: Malaya and Borneo 1962-64