Last November, The Guardian published the obituary of Stan Perry OC (1934-1939), who died in October aged 97. Stan was the last surviving wartime officer of the Sherwood Rangers; the unit with more battle honours in WW2 than any other in the British Army.

Stan was born in Bury St. Edmunds and won a scholarship to Culford School aged 11 for his intelligence and excellent sporting skills. At Culford, he achieved a scholarship to study Mathematics at Emmanuel College in Cambridge. However, Stan chose to sign up for the war efforts in 1941 instead; where he was deployed to the Royal Armoured Corps at Bovington in Dorset, soon to be selected for officer training and sent to Sandhurst.

Stan received severe injuries during the D-day fighting in Normandy, nonetheless he made a bold return to take part in operations in Germany. Here, the injuries he sustained were so severe that Stan was left facing death, yet battled on and returned to action before the cessation of hostilities. He quickly became known for his natural flair for command and leadership, proving to be an exceptional troop commander.

Stan left the army in 1948, later sharing his three ''scars'' from the war:

“There’s the first, your conscience, that you actually killed some young chap who was probably not very different from you.

The second was the conscience of the mind: 'Had you been a better soldier, had you deployed differently on a certain occasion, would that have saved the life of some of your men?' 

And then the other scars you have, of course, are the physical scars from wounding.”

Stan was predeceased by Anne-Lise, to whom he was married for 72 years. He is survived by their son and two daughters, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Stan lived a life full of love and surrounded by family. When speaking to a close family member, they expressed how fond he was of his time at Culford and how he continued to follow our rugby results up until he sadly passed.

To read his full obituary, click here.