The Club Cricket Conference Yearbook 2020

- 91 - On 6 November 1956 at first light Derek found himself leading B Troop 42 Commando in the leading wave of landing vehicles as they drove ashore at Port Said to begin the ill-fated Suez Campaign; his troop was the first ashore and therefore he was possibly the first British soldier to land. After successfully driving off the Egyptian army the marines realised that the enemy had fled the field and the way to the south and control of the Suez Canal was open: much to their chagrin they found that London at once ordered a ceasefire. Their return to Plymouth on 9 December was greeted by mist, rain, cold and customs officers and, unlike after the Falklands conflict, no cheering crowds. His active days over, he became Editor of The Globe & Laurel , the magazine of the Royal Marines, for the next eighteen years. He was also a published author writing several books about the marines including A Pictorial History of the Royal Marines; Fiddler on the March – a biography of Lt. Col. Sir Vivian Dunn, Principal Director of Music for the Corps; and The Falklands Military Machine ; this latter book won several awards from, amongst others, the United States Marine Corps Historical Foundation and the Royal Marines Historical Society (of which he was the Editor of their in-house magazine for some twenty years). In 2010 he co-authored A Short History of the Royal Marines which is issued to all new recruits and for which he received a Commandant General’s commendation. Aside from sport, his hobbies included local community work, travel and amateur dramatics, particularly as a member of the Hayling Island Amateur Dramatic Society: in 1990 he was the principal fundraiser for a new theatre project which raised £400,000. We extend our deepest sympathies to his companion Gill and to his children Graham, Neil, Malcolm, Jeni and Philip.