Ronald Leonard Sylvester Hearn, who died at Cambridge on 9th July 1987 aged 84, was one of that loyal breed of men who, although over-age for conscription when World War II began, enlisted in the Royal Armoured Corps and was trained as a Driver/Operator at the 61st Training Regiment at Tidworth.
He was nearly 40 when he joined the 8th Hussars in the Desert in 1942 and served in the MT section.
In the fateful Bir Hacheim battle on 27th May 1942, when Rommel’s Afrika Korps inflicted heavy casualties on the 8th Hussars and overran 7th Armoured Division’s Headquarters, Ron Hearn was one of the many who, during the confused and bitter fighting, were surrounded and captured.
He managed to escape and make his way back to the Regiment several days later, continuing to serve with them until the end of the desert campaign.
Back in England preparing for the D-Day invasion of Europe, he was transferred to the Reconnaissance Troop, with which he served through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany until the war was over, rising to the rank of War – substantive Sergeant.
Always a popular man, well able to exert his authority without excessive officiousness, his nickname ‘Just-the-Job’ indicates his willingness to take on any task however difficult in any situation; being older than most of his contemporaries he gained their respect and affection for the avuncular way in which he dealt with them and their day-to-day problems.
