Bugle Summer 2026 - Flipbook - Page 69
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VALETE
Lt Col Simon Stanford-Tuck
Lt Col Simon Stanford-Tuck was born in
1949 and grew up in rural east Kent. At
Radley College, Abingdon, he gained four
sciences A-levels, rowed and captained
the College smallbore rifle team. He won
an Army Scholarship in 1965.
After school, in 1966 he attended the
Army Outward Bound course at Towyn
then spent 4 months studying at the
Göethe Institut at Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria.
He attended RMAS from 1967 to 1968.
Both years at Sandhurst he was in the
RMAS Bisley Team (combined OCdts and
Permanent Staff), and captain of the OCdt
smallbore team.
He commissioned into RGJ in 1968, and
was posted to the 2nd Battalion in Münster,
commanding his mechanised platoon
not only for operations but also in the
specialised NATO nuclear convoy escort role.
He next moved for two years at the
Depot, training both adult and junior soldier
recruits, and spending 6 months away as
deputy leader of the 1971 Green Jackets
expedition to Nepal – collecting insect
specimens for the British Museum.
He returned to 2RGJ for 3 years in
Catterick and Gibraltar: first as deputy leader
for the UK National team at the CENTO
NISHAN Rifle Meeting at Bisley in 1974, then
Intelligence Officer for David Ramsbotham
on an Op Banner tour, then Adjutant and
finishing for Ian Corden-Lloyd for a year. He
followed successive predecessors as 2RGJ
Adjutants (Vere Hayes and David Innes), to
become Skill at Arms Officer at Sandhurst.
He attended the Canadian Staff College
in Toronto and was then posted to MoD
as private secretary to the MoD Director
General of Intelligence. Back with 2RGJ as
Company Commander he then moved to
Warminster, as Demonstrations Officer at the
School of Infantry. On promotion he spent a
year as Directing Staff at the Staff College,
Camberley, before moving to command 1RGJ
in Osnabrück.
Following command, he was posted to
the DMO at MoD Main Building. At this stage
he applied for redundancy, for which he
was duly accepted, leaving in 1994. He ran a
small interview training business for some
20 years, which remains active. Then, having
he spent
a year as
Directing
Sta昀昀 at
the Sta昀昀
College,
Camberley
worked as a consultant at ARTD Upavon
to write the programme for uplift of the
Army’s training estate to the Bowman
radio system, he joined RHQ The Rifles
to take on the Officer Recruiting portfolio
from David Day. His tenure included the
adoption of the widely-criticised new MoD
recruitment system, and the advent of
women into the Infantry.
After 6 years at that he handed over to
Simon Gray and took on the vacant post of
Heritage – which he left on retirement in
April this year (that post remains unfilled
– any business intended for Heritage
should be referred first to the Regimental
Secretary).
RIFLEMEN IN LONDON – SALAMANCA DAY 26
The Colonel Commandant and fellow Riflemen working in London marked Salamanca Day 2026 with a group photo on the steps of MOD Main Building. Those
gathered were able to offer Colonel Mike Devenish huge congratulations on his selection for Command of 16X.
RIFLES The Bugle 69
