Robert William Riddle, known as Bob, was born in Galashiels in January 1933. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, near Clitheroe, Lancashire. After training as an officer cadet at RMA Sandhurst (Camberley, Surrey) he joined the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in 1953.
His obituary in the Borderers Chronicle 1996 includes this Appreciation by F.H.C.:
‘His Army career was a model for any aspiring soldier. Schooled at Stonyhurst and Sandhurst, he had a razor-sharp brain and a superb sense of humour which qualified him for a succession of high-level staff appointments, but regimental soldiering with the KOSB was his first love. He was universally respected and admired by all ranks of the KOSB and their families – Regular, Territorial and Cadets alike.
His regimental service took him to all the trouble spots of the post-war world – Northern Ireland three times (Mentioned in Despatches for gallantry). He served in Malaya, Hong Kong, Germany more than once, and West Berlin where he commanded the 1st Battalion during an outstanding tour of duty [1973], for which he was appointed OBE.
When he retired from the Army he served for ten years as General Secretary of The Royal British Legion Scotland and the Earl Haig Fund. In this role he was widely known and liked by the ex-service community in the Borders. He treated ex-servicemen and women with the same care, consideration and understanding as he had his regular soldiers.’
General Sir Michael Gow said, ‘His sense of humour was infectious, and he was the most unflappable person I have ever met. He was also a man of foresight, and it was he who thought up the idea of forming a voluntary association which is unique and called the Scottish Ex-Services Charitable Organisation (SESCO). He guided me, the chairman, through its inaugural stages, and it is, in a sense, a memorial in Scotland to a caring man who loved his profession and his country. His adored wife Ann, and his family greatly helped him to endure with courage and dignity his illness.’
At the Thanksgiving Service on 16 Oct 1996, the Colonel of the KOSB at that time, Major-General Tim Sewell, said:
‘He was indeed a distinguished soldier, as anyone who served with or under him will testify. Whether it was on the rugby field, where he excelled, or later in Command of the Battalion, where he took it through two testing and dangerous tours in Belfast, Bob was very much the leader who everyone, from Jock upwards, followed willingly and with confidence. He went on to become the Colonel of the Regiment during which he supported the Battalion through the trauma of Berlin to the memorable celebrations to mark the Regiment’s Tercentenary in Edinburgh in 1989. He was a Borderer through and through.
‘…I stayed with him and Ann and the girls one summer, and Bob decided that tennis would be the order of the day. I had no kit but Bob took delight in putting me into a pair of Ann’s shorts (or were they Kirsty’s?) and a pair of shoes two sizes too small, and then creased himself with laughter every time I ran for the ball. He had a marvellous sense of the absurd.’
Brigadier Bob Riddle was Colonel of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers from 1985 to 1990. He lived at Blyth Bridge, Peebles-shire. He was Deputy Lieutenant of Tweeddale and a member of the Royal Company of Archers. He was married to Ann and had three daughters, Frances, Fiona and Kirsty. He died on 8 October 1996, aged only 63.
The photo shows Bob Riddle, as Colonel of the Regiment, at Colchester in May 1986, presenting CSM Hiram Dunn with a GOC’s Commendation for Operations in Forkhill, South Armagh in 1985. CSM Dunn had completed nine operational tours of duty in Northern Ireland. During the course of his career, which ended in May 1991, he was also with HQNI Royal Engineers as an expert search advisor, and a lecturer to all units in the British Armed Forces on search and terrorism.
