Lieut.-Colonel Arthur Harley NOTT (50926)
Commanded the 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment from May 1955 to April 1958.
Commanded the Depot Worcestershire Regiment from June 1953 to April 1955.

 
Arthur Harley Nott born 20th April 1912, was educated at Marlborough and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and commissioned into The Worcestershire Regiment on 28th January, 1932.

He was first posted to the 1st Battalion, then at Plymouth, where he soon made his mark as a good sportsman and athlete, winning both the Javelin and Discus events "fairly comfortably" at the Battalion Athletics Meeting that year.

In January 1933 he was posted to the 2nd Battalion, in Malta, and he continued his service in the 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment  in Tientsin, Peking and India until 1939.

On the outbreak of war in 1939 he became, first, M.T.O. and later Specialist Company Commander at the I.T.C. at Norton Barracks.

He was appointed the first Adjutant (to Lieut.-Colonel A. P. Watkins) of the 12th Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment on its formation, at Burton-on-Trent, in May 1940, and subsequently as O.C. H.Q. Company in Llanelly, Iceland and Gravesend.

After qualifying at the Staff College, Camberley, in 1942 he sailed for the Middle East, and became an Instructor at the Middle East Civil Affairs Staff School, followed by the appointment of G.S.O. 2, 3rd Carpathian Polish Division with which he served at Monte Cassino and Ancona, Italy. From December 1944 to December 1945 he served as a Company Commander in 2nd Battalion The Royal Scots in Palestine.

In January 1946 he rejoined the 1st Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment, as Second-in-Command (to Lieut.-Colonel R. E. L. Tuckey) and moved with the Battalion from Goslar, B.A.O.R., to Trieste, Pola, Luneberg and Berlin.
 


Lieut.-Colonel A. H. Nott
(known as "Snooks")
   

In 1948 he went to Warminster, Wiltshire as G.S.O. 2 School of Infantry but in January 1951 he again rejoined 1st Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment, now in Malaya during the Anti-Terrorist Campaign there, first as "B" Company Commander (under Lieut.-Colonel A. H. Gillmore) at Segamat, Johore, and then as Second-in-Command of the 1st Battalion at Kluang, Penang and Ipoh (under Lieut.-Colonel P. H. Graves-Morris).

From Malaya he came home in charge of the 1st Battalion Coronation Party and remained in England on his appointment, in June 1953, to become Commanding Officer, Regimental Depot. While at the Depot he enhanced the already-high Regimental reputation for shooting, being himself captain of the Depot Shooting Team on many occasions.

In May 1955 he was promoted Lieut.-Colonel and appointed Commanding Officer of 7th Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment (T.A.), at Silver Street, Worcester, which appointment he held for the next three years. During these years in Worcestershire he was able to enjoy the country sports he loved best, those of shooting and fishing, at both of which he excelled.

His last two years of regular service, before his retirement in 1960 after 28 years service, were as Officer-in-Charge of Field Records, British Army of the Rhine.

In 1960 he returned to his family home at Bodenham, Hereford, where he closely identified himself with local school and church work, including that of being a most active and capable Churchwarden.
 
Lieut.-Colonel Arthur Harley Nott died on 18th May 1971, age 59, at his home Bodenham Hall, Hereford, after a few months of illness.

His funeral, which took place at Bodenham Church on 22nd May 1971, was attended by a very large number of family, parish and Regimental friends. The lesson was read by his brother Brigadier Donald Nott (former Colonel of the Worcestershire Regiment), the former 1st Battalion Padre the Reverend Benny Goodman gave a most moving address, and the Vicar of Bodenham, the Reverend H. O. Jones, C.F., paid a fitting tribute, which included "men of his calibre are few and far between", to Arthur Nott's work for the parish and the church.
 
His friend and fellow officer Brigadier Philip Graves-Morris wrote at the time:
It is difficult to believe that Snooks' is no longer among us. It is a measure of the lovable nature of the man that he should have carried the nickname that his mother originally gave him throughout his life.

Several Commanding Officers shared with me the happy experience of having him as a loyal and unruffled second-in-command—wise in counsel, devoted to his Regiment, and always careful to make a decision that was in accordance with his high standards. Evidence of the meticulous care he took in all his work throughout his service career was still visible on his retirement as a visit to Bodenham Hall and its well kept gardens did show.

There remain many poignant memories—the careful deliberation in the selection and tying of a trout fly—the filling of his little charcoal choked pipe with a wisp of tobacco from a snuff-box—the rich laughter when having told a story he realized he had missed the point—his warm smile of greeting and the expression in his eyes.

He will be remembered by many as a true countryman—a very good shot but never selfish over his shooting—he loved to work his dogs Buck and Donna for the benefit of others but he would never see it this way. He got true enjoyment from being in the countryside and was part of it. The Cradley Shoot will miss him greatly—he was so much an integral part of that companionship which has always made it so enjoyable.

We have all lost a great example of a man who lived to standards he would never betray.
  
 

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