Obituaries Former Warrant Officer Class 1 (ASM) Basil Ainsworth 1932-2022 Scribe: Daughter Lyn Francis It is with regret that we inform the Corps of the death of our dad, Basil Ainsworth, who died suddenly following a short illness on 13 January 2022 aged 89. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, Basil enlisted as a Craftsman in the REME in February 1950 and undertook basic training at Blandford. A posting to Berlin as part of BAOR took place in 1951 and it was whilst in Berlin that Basil received a penfriend letter from the daughter of a family friend. On returning home to the UK, Basil met his penfriend who became our mum, Shirley Ainsworth, with the couple marrying in July of 1954. Basil left the service for several months in February of 1955 but re-enlisted in July 1955 with uninterrupted service. This was followed by a tour to Cyprus from June 1958 to February 1959 and a return to the UK. Basil completed a further tour for BAOR from 1962 to 1965 and was based in Paderbor n and Detmold before returning to the UK. In 1969 Basil was posted to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates for a year-long tour and the photo of him riding a camel is still a family favourite. Basil went on to complete fur ther tours in Cyprus (1971), Northern Ireland (1971-1972) and completed his 23 years’ service in September 1972. As part of his service Basil completed his Vehicle Mechanic (A) i n M a r c h 1 9 5 2 a n d we n t o n t o complete his Artificer Vehicle course in 1962 at Bordon and subsequent promotion to Staff Sergeant. Basil enjoyed a number of hobbies including fishing – his favourite spot was Chesil Beach in Dorset. An avid music lover Basil joined the Abertillery Orpheus Male Voice Choir when he moved to Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, and went on to sing for the Pope in 1982. Basil was a top tenor, music master and publicist during his 32 years in the choir. Choir practice was often followed by a pint in the pub and a singsong. Basil also enjoyed painting and drawing landscapes and always signed his pictures B Ainsworth. It was a family joke that we all had a Bainsworth on the wall. Basil also enjoyed his German classes to improve his fluency and the social aspect of the weekly get together. Post Army life Basil worked as a supervisor at Michelin in Newcastle-under-Lyme and a Plant Manager at Seddon Plant Hire, Stoke-on-Trent, before deciding to buy a shop in the South Wales Valleys. The latter part of his working life was spent as an instructor at a local skills centre in Blaenau Gwent where he passed on his k n ow l e d ge r e g a r d i n g b r i c k l ay i n g, m o t o r m e c h a n i c s a n d literacy/numeracy skills. Basil was extremely proud of his REME service and enjoyed talking to people about his time in the military and the places he had served. Basil was a hardworking, loyal, dedicated soldier and strived to be the best at everything he undertook. As well as being a soldier, Basil was a husband, dad, Son, Brother, Grandad and great Grandad extraordinaire whose values of honesty, reliability, respect and commitment have been passed down through the family and will continue to do so. Basil also had a great sense of humour and loved a family party or get together. You were always greeted with a twinkle in his eye and a broad smile often accompanied by the words What do you know? Basil is survived by his Wife, Shirley, and Daughters, Lyn, Julie, Helen, nine grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren and will be very much missed by all of us.
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The funeral was held at The Heart of England Crematorium followed by a wake at Weston Hall. As a veteran, funeral rites were provided by Richard Marsh, Corps of REME, Standard Bearer; L.Cpl. Brendan O’Neill, RE 66Wks, GP RE Bugler and Warrant Officer Class 2 Kelvin Redshaw, Corps Welfare Warrant Officer, RHQ REME. Basil’s ashes will be dispersed at his favourite fishing spot on Chesil Beach on what would have been his 90th birthday with the family present. Donations in lieu of flowers will be sent to the REME Charity.
Former Warrant Officer Class 1 (ASM) Jeff Phillips Scribe: SSgt Steven Phillips Sadly, my Father passed away at the age of 76 on the 6th December 2021. 23847768 WO1 (ASM) Jeff Phillips joined the REME in 1960 as an Apprentice at the age of 15. A 3-year a p p r e n t i c e s h i p a s a Ve h i c l e Mechanic, then specializing in A Vehicles (Track) at Bordon. He married my mum; April in 1966 who followed him throughout his 22-year career in the Army. Most of his career was spent in Germany with his last few years in Hong Kong opening up a new workshop in Kowloon Tong (Osborne Barracks). He retired at 40 as an ASM which he had been for over 6 years. He then joined the Civil Service at Andover working his next 20 years supporting REME. Finally retiring as an SPTO in EME 11b (Tools and Test Equipment Manager) in 2005.
Former SSgt David Charles Giles BEM Scribes: Col (Retd) Mike Crabbe and Maj (Retd) John Plumb We both served with David at different times, came together as members of Art Avionics 17 and kept in touch with David and Sylvia up to his untimely passing near his home in France in November last year. David joined the Army Apprentices School in January 1964 and was allocated to ’B’ squad for training in the aircraft trade. This was the second intake of Apprentices to have the Aviation trades as an option. At this early time in training for Aviation, Apprentices were not assigned to Aircraft or Electrics, Instruments and Radio (E, I & R) until they reached the third term and had been assessed for their suitability for a particular trade. David was selected for E, I & R. We were never sure if it was the training or David’s innovative nature that led to the David Giles Mouse Trap – an upside-down cardboard box with an access hole, either side of which was connected to the mains! – sadly no mice were caught. As a talented runner, David competed in Cross Country and in 1965, whilst attending military training in Brecon, he completed the retrieval of the safety flag from the top of the mountain on the Cym Gwdi ranges in record time – a record that stood for some time. On passing out from the then renamed Army Apprentices College in December 1966 he moved to Aircraft Engineering Training Wing at Middle Wallop to complete his training before
