Page 59 - Old Ratcliffian Magazine 2017

58 OBITUARIES OBITUARIES 59

PETER PALMER MAJOR SHAUN MICHAEL BROGAN

OLD RATCLIFFIAN 1940 - 1942 OLD RATCLIFFIAN 1956 - 1962
MAY 24TH 1944 - JULY 9TH 2017

Peter Palmer was born in the little village of Horninghold, which is Major Shaun Michael Brogan MC MA (Oxon) died peacefully on
situated on the Leicestershire-Rutland border, next to Hallaton. July 9th 2017 at Westlington Farm in Dinton - the home that he
The family moved to 350-acre Manor Farm in Rearsby in 1934. loved and cherished. He was surrounded by his family: his wife,
The milk cows were transported by lorry, since they needed to Catherine, his two sons, Blaise and Kit, and their wives and six
be milked twice a day, but Peter’s father walked the store cattle grandchildren.
and horses from Horninghold to Rearsby, staying the night with
friends in Loddington. Shaun was born on May 24th 1944 to Major William Garrett and
Jean Pendleton Brogan. His father was under lock and key in
Peter attended Rearsby School, then Melton Grammar, until he preparation for the D-Day Landings, to prevent knowledge of
was thirteen. Following in the footsteps of his father, Bernard the attack falling into enemy hands. He had to ask for special
Palmer (11), Peter passed the Common Entrance examination for permission to visit his newborn son before joining the attack.
Ratcliffe College, and he stayed there until he was fifteen. By Following World War II, Shaun moved to Germany with his family
then, it was wartime, and he went to work on the farm. as part of the occupation forces, and he spent his early childhood
there roaming the countryside and learning to swim and ski.
Peter met his wife, Jean, who also had the surname Palmer, at a
Young Farmers’ Club in 1947. They had five children - two boys From Germany, they moved to Leicestershire, where Shaun
and three girls. Timothy (69) now runs Manor Farm, Angela is attended Ratcliffe College with his two younger brothers, Piers
a teacher, Elizabeth lives in Norfolk and is a physiotherapist, (64) and Simon (66). Shaun excelled at sports, such as boxing,
Margaret trained as a teacher and now runs a farm with her more mechanical farming. Peter also saw many changes in dairy rugby and swimming, and he also received the Sword of Honour
husband in France, and Richard (83) is an accountant. All three farming. Initially, in Rearsby, it was hand milking, with the milk in the Combined Cadet Force. Having not been a particularly
girls married farmers, and Peter had six grandchildren. being stored in churns. Then came milking machines and bulk academic pupil, he knuckled down for his final year to win a
refrigerated tanks on the farm, picked up daily by road tankers. scholarship to Harvard School in Hollywood, California. There, he
Glebe Farm on Gaddesby Lane, where Peter lived, was purchased Peter’s father gave up milking in 1949 to focus on arable farming. was known as ‘Irish’, and he soon joined their American football
in 1960, and now both farms are run as one. When the family first team. He had an amazing year and was welcomed into the homes
came to Manor Farm, prior to the war, it was a mixed farm, like Peter loved farming, and it gave him enormous satisfaction. He of many of his classmates. He made some lifelong friends before
many in Leicestershire. Cows were milked and calves fattened. lived through the whole process, from hand labour to complete returning to England to join the British Army.
They also had sheep and arable land. Before the war, most of mechanisation. a place. He was determined to prove that, despite his academic
Leicestershire was grass, hedges and wire. When the war came, Shaun entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was record at school, he could excel at university. He undertook his
the government wanted the land to be ploughed to grow grain, Maggi Litchfield commissioned into the Royal Anglian Regiment. After three study as if it were a job, and when he was not attending tutorials,
potatoes and sugar beet. This presaged the development of Rearsby Scene magazine years in the battalion, he asked his commanding officer for leave he worked in the Bodleian Library all day. He found it challenging
to volunteer for Special Air Service selection. In 1969, he passed to return to the classroom with students who were ten years
selection and had several tours, serving in South America, Africa, younger, but he made firm friends who supported and helped
the Far East and the Dhofar War in Oman. He was wounded on him to achieve a good degree, narrowly missing a First.
PETER BINEY operations and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. His Shaun took advantage of the student life, socialising, taking
citation for the award reads: ‘Capt Brogan has, over a lengthy
period of sustained operations, displayed outstanding qualities up ballet, and commanding a reserve unit in the Special Air
OLD RATCLIFFIAN 1982 - 1985 of leadership, initiative, planning and bravery. His example Service. It was while he was doing a Paramedics course for the
has produced results beyond all expectations and has been SAS in the Radcliffe Infirmary that he met Catherine, who was
Peter passed away on September 28th in Accra, an inspiration to all ranks under his command.’ He was later an Emergency Doctor at the time. He invited her out for a drink,
Ghana, from an asthma attack. He was at Ratcliffe awarded the Queen’s Commendation for his leadership, skill and regaling her with stories about his travels to distant and exotic
in the early 1980s, where he was a popular member determination. places. Catherine had also done her fair share of travelling; when
of his form. He enjoyed rugby and athletics, and he Shaun discovered that she, too, had spent time with the remote
was a very cheeky fellow with a heart of gold. After Entertainingly, while Shaun was in the SAS, Sean Connery Turkana tribe in Kenya and wished to continue travelling and
Ratcliffe, Peter lived in London and America, and then retired from his role as James Bond, and the men in Shaun’s working in remote places, he knew she was the woman for him.
moved back to Ghana in the mid-1990s. He was a very troop entered his name to be the next Bond. He made it to the They were married within the year in Lincoln College Chapel,
warm, generous and kind soul. On a personal note, he shortlist, but unfortunately, he was on operations during the Oxford, and they moved to Oman as part of ‘Winning the Peace’
was a good friend to me over the years. He had a great screen testing! through reconstruction and medical programmes following
sense of humour and was the life and soul, wherever the Dhofar War. During this time, Shaun also commanded the
he went. He leaves behind a wife (Nana, pictured During his time in the army, Shaun grappled with the major Sultan’s Special Forces (SSF).
with Peter) and two daughters. He will be very sorely questions of life, such as the rights and wrongs of warfare. In
missed. order to answer these questions, he realised that he required Shaun and Catherine returned to the UK in 1979 with their son,
further knowledge and an intellectual framework. He decided Blaise, and in 1980, their second son, Kit, was born. Shaun worked
Rest in peace, Peter. to apply for university, and he started at the top, walking the for a London security firm specialising in anti-kidnapping and
streets of Oxford and knocking on the doors of several colleges close protection work. During this time, he was employed as the
Michael Basoah (84) to ask if he could read Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He was bodyguard for the Duchess of Westminster, as well as training
surprised and thrilled when Lincoln College agreed to give him bodyguards and negotiating the release of several hostages.

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