Died 16th December 2018 - Obituary 

Geoffrey was born in 1924. He joined Rossall from Bickerton House School in Birkdale. At Rossall he became Captain of Rose House, a school monitor and gained colours in all the sports played at the school, including rugby (as captain), cricket, hockey, squash and fives. He was in the same house as brothers Nigel and Barry Howard who went on as cricketers to captain England and play for Lancashire respectively. He told a story about an infamous intramural match against Mitre House in 1941 – Mitre scored five runs all out and Rose scored nine runs off the first three balls to win the game by 10 wickets!

 He joined the Officer Training Corp (OTC) which at 16 enabled him to join the Local Defence Volunteers (predecessor of the Home Guard) where he patrolled the sea wall in Fleetwood armed with a WW1 short Lee Enfield 303. At 17 he transferred to the Air Training Corp (ATC) where he started his interest in flying, kindled by a school talk given by former pupil, Ronald Gustav Kellett, a WW2 fighter ace.

In 1942 at 18 he was selected for Oxford based on his school record, although he admitted his proficiency at sport probably had an influence. At Oriel College he read history and played rugby at scrum half for the college and the University Air Squadron. He played in the same position for the Greyhounds (university second team) and would probably have won a Blue if the war had not interrupted his studies so soon.

He left Oxford in 1943 in order to join the RAF, with a ticket to return to Oriel after the war. He regretted he never did this. Shortly after joining up he was sent to Canada for pilot training on the Queen Mary, with Winston Churchill and his entourage on board on their way to the first Quebec Conference with President Roosevelt. The cadets were drawn up on deck and inspected by Winston.

He returned to England in Feb/March 1944 by which time there was an over-supply of pilots following the allies good progress in the war, so he saw little active duty. When a notification came from the Air Ministry seeking volunteers for the Glider Pilot Regiment, Geoffrey jumped at it. He took part in Operation Varsity on 24th March 1945, a massive airborne operation to secure bridges across the Rhine. There were 400 gliders in total and Geoffrey’s was number 16. Despite injury from shrapnel he successfully landed his Horsa glider on target and then joined the infantry operation until his injuries prevented this. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After repatriation and recovery he briefly joined his father’s accountancy practice in Preston and during this time he met his wife Patricia whom he married in 1949. In 1950 he joined the Loyal Regiment of the Territorial Army becoming a lieutenant. During the period until 1957 he pursued various business interests until re-joining the RAF on a short service commission which included three very happy years posted to Gibraltar, where he and Patricia spent most of their time between duties, living in Marbella across the border in Spain. On return to England he moved to London where he joined Decca Radar (later Plessey Radar and BAe) as an air surveillance specialist where he remained until retirement in 1988.

 Geoffrey and Patricia spent their time in London bringing up their children and developing a somewhat bohemian lifestyle. Over the years they enriched the family with their eccentric and artistic friends.

In 1987 his first grandchild arrived on the scene closely followed by another two. Life then took a different turn involving much time doing DIY, child minding and dog walking for the family. He wasn’t that keen on the DIY but loved the other two activities.

He was predeceased by his wife Patricia in 2016. His final four years were plagued by immobility and Parkinson’s disease. He never complained about these and other health issues and was always cheerful. He never lost his schoolboy sense of humour. He died in hospital at the age of 94, after being admitted for an urinary infection, where he acquired pneumonia which proved fatal. He is survived by his sons Nigel and Simon and three grandchildren.