Brian Williams (9 May 1947 - 13 Dec 2021)

In loving memory of Brian Williams who sadly passed away on 13th December 2021

Brian had so many friends, and we would have loved all of you to have joined us at the funeral. Sadly covid means we have to be careful with numbers. We will be streaming the service and if you would like to join us online, here’s the link.
www.obitus.com
user code cavo3127
password 252372

The funeral will be streamed live at 1.20pm, and then from the following day will be available for 28 days.

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Brian was a unique, kind and thoughtful man who touched everyone he came into contact with. He was mischievous, funny, inspiring, grounding, loving. He had a wicked sense of humour! He was a man of strong opinions who hated injustice and supported so many charities that he sometimes struggled to know how to help more. He was a larger-than-life character who will be hugely missed by all of us.

Much of his time was spent gathering gifts and cards to give out at Christmas and birthdays. He remembered important events linked to his friends and held memories close to his heart. He actually had drawers full of empty boxes sitting ready to fill with gifts.

Brian lived his life to the full. Even when he became ill, it was a testament to his strength and love of life that we still travelled and fulfilled much on his bucket list – mainly surrounding seeing friends and family! Seeing friends and family was so important to him and despite his recent poor health he was determined not to let anything stop him from doing this. His last social events – two weddings, a garden party with pizza, drinks in the pub with his friends, a weekend away with army friends, various trips away with Sharon, and valuable time spent with Owen and Stephanie – were times that touched him greatly and made lasting memories for all those involved.

Brian’s character is what will live on in all of our hearts and memories.

For the facts of his life, please read on.

Brian George Williams was born on the 9th May 1947 to Arthur and Rose Williams. He grew up in Stoke Newington, London. His pre-school years were often spent with his cousins Peter, Maureen and Paul while his mother was at work as a telephonist. Brian and Maureen, being closest in age, spent many hours playing imaginative games in the house, particularly as cowboys and Native Americans, using the coal cellar as their gold mine and the younger toddler Paul as the hostage! Christmas was always with his cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandmother at his Uncle Syd’s house in Hawksley Road. He went to primary school at St. Joan of Arc Highbury and later to Grammar school at St. Ignatius, then situated at Stamford Hill.
Whilst at St. Ignatius Brian joined the schools CCF (Combined Cadet Force) putting in place his first steps of a notable military career.

When he was old enough, Brian joined the local Territorial Army unit at Hornsey in 1963 enlisting into ‘A’ Company, the 5th Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment (DCO).
After serving as a rifleman for a couple of years Brian observed that the soldiers of Support Company had an easier time of it, being mounted in Land Rovers to ferry their anti-tank guns and mortars around (as well as crates of beer) and so he transferred to the Mortar Platoon which was then equipped with the 3” Mortar. Brian soon became a Corporal detachment commander and was later promoted to Sergeant in charge of a section of mortars.
Brian along with many others joined ‘D’ Company, 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Queen’s Regiment on 1st April 1967, remaining with the Mortar Platoon who by now were equipped with the new 81mm Mortar. Brian was a member of the Nimegen March team entered by D Company 5 QUEEN’S in 1972 and B Company 6/7 QUEEN’s in 1976 and was responsible for the unique morale raiser in the form of the Kazoo, where regimental marches, songs from the hit parade and other tunes were hummed as the team ate up the miles in Holland.
Unfortunately, when ‘D’ Company became ‘B’ Company 6th/7th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Queen’s Regiment, the support weapons were lost as the new battalion’s role was that of home defence and for a while Brian was without a role. Brian took up a post in the recruit training team at Edgware until the opportunity to take on a new role in the Battalion - that of the Int. Sergeant in the fledgling Int. Cell which was set up at BHQ in Horsham. Brian was now living in Northampton and regularly made the 200 mile round trip to help get the Int. Cell team established.

For his hard work and dedication Brian was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 1982.

Brian finally hung up his boots in 1984 and was later instrumental in getting the Albuhera Branch of the Queen’s Regimental Association established at Hornsey in 1985. Brian served for many years as a committee member, secretary and eventually chairman of the Branch and in recent years was the co-ordinator for the Branch’s annual battlefield tour.

He worked for HM Customs for many years, latterly as a language trainer and in IT. He was a full-time union man. He also worked for the BBC for a period of time and was a film extra – notably in a film requiring him to travel in a motorcycle sidecar whilst being raced across country!

Much of Brian and Sharon’s life revolved around drama and theatre. He belonged to many drama groups in the area, not least East Essex Players, Southend Drama Society and for many years, Southend Shakespeare Company. He was an actor, a singer, a director and a writer as well as an avid audience member. He was on the Management Board for Sharon’s company, N-Act Theatre Company, and was a constant support and inspiration for her work.

Crete was a large part of his life with Sharon, who he married there in 2003. They have a home there in Chania and many friends – all of whom were a party to Brian’s mischievous sense of humour despite their occasional lack of understanding of the nuances of the language!

Other notable things that we will miss about Brian:
• His unique ability to fall asleep as soon as he got into a car – not always on the passenger side!
• His memory – some of us will never remember things again now, as Brian was always the go-to guy: ‘ask Brian, he’ll know!’
• His story-telling! No more to be said there ;)