The coffin, draped with the RGJ flag and with Peters forage cap on top, was carried into the church by six of his former service colleagues and a short service preceded the eulogy which was given by Billy Hughes who presented a very good verbal picture of Peters life and achievements.

Following the church service the coffin with about 25 mourners in attendance were transported to the burial site at Lovedon Lane cemetery, Kings Worthy, where a short service was followed by the interment of the coffin and the playing of Last Post by a bugler from The Rifles.

There then followed a gathering of about 30 people in the ATR Sergeants Mess where tea, coffee and light refreshments were served.

Joyce Uden would like me to express her thanks and gratitude to all those who attended and in particular to thank Billy Hughes and Gareth Dixon for all their help and support during this very sad time for Peter`s family.

Chief Mourners

Peter Uden 1st May 1946 - 28th November 2009

Peter David George Uden was born the son of a naval officer in Portsmouth on 1st May 1946. He spent most of his early years there until he enlisted as an Infantry Junior Leader on 12^th December 1961. His boys service, during which he attained the rank of J/Cpl, was spent at Oswestry.

In March 1964 having completed basic training at Bushfield Camp where Danny Hunt was his Training Corporal he was posted to 1^st Green Jackets in Penang. After further continuation training he became a member of D Company until transferring to 11 Platoon C Company in April 1964.

From May to October 1964 he was in Borneo and took part in the night ambush at Stass which was reckoned to be the most successful operation of that type since WW2 and in April 1965 he was moved with 1 Green Jackets to Berlin.

In Aug 1965 he was promoted to L/Cpl and posted to 9 Platoon C Company and in January 1966 he was posted to 2 Platoon A Company as Section Commander. In December 1966 he transferred back to D Company, Signals Platoon and in Aril 1967 moved with the battalion to Tidworth.

In July of 1967 he became B Company Signals Detachment Commander having previously come top of the Regt Sigs std 2 Cadre. From October to December he attended the Regt Signals Std 1 course at Hythe following which he joined the battalion on its UN tour of Cyprus where he was promoted to Corporal.

In May 1970 following several training exercises in America, Canada and an emergency tour of Northern Ireland in 1969 he moved with 1RGJ to Celle where in November 1971 he was promoted to Sergeant and in the following January posted to 4RGJ as Signals PSI at Davies Street.

In December 1973 he rejoined 1RGJ in Celle and was posted to the Recce Platoon where he stayed until May 1975 when he was posted to the Rifle Depot as Recruit Platoon Training Sergeant until March 1977 when he rejoined 1RGJ in Dover and accompanied them to Hong Kong in January of 1978.

In June 1980 he was promoted C/Sgt and posted to 2RGJ. In August 1981 he took over as Signals C/Sgt following the battalion move to Minden. In December 1983 he was promoted to Warrant Officer and in October 1984 appointed RSO 2RGJ.

In December 1986 he was again back with IRGJ and in the October of 1987 was again appointed RSO IRGJ

After extending his service in May 1989 Peter was posted to Bielefeld where in September 1990 he contracted Legionnaires Disease. After recovering he again extended his service for a further year but decided to leave the Army on 17 May 1993 having completed 31 years and 157 days service

I first met Peter in 1970 when I remained behind in Celle and went over from 3 to 1RGJ, although we did not serve together until 1973. In 1970 he was Signals platoon and I was B Company but we both moved on and it was after completing a posting with 4RGJ that he joined the 1RGJ Recce Platoon  where I had been posted at the end of 1972. Looking back on it I now realise that we did not spend a great deal of time working together and I am sure there are many people who are far better qualified than I to write this but we seemed to pack an awful lot into the two years we were serving together and as is so often the case in the Regiment we forged a friendship that would last a lifetime.

At that time, 1973, he was slim, fit and very confident of his own ability. His addiction to crosswords was well established by then and he spent most of our morning coffee breaks in the Celle Sergeants Mess behind the crossword page of the Telegraph. Most of us considered it quite an achievement to finish the Sun crossword but Peter was never happier than when engrossed in the Telegraph cryptic.

He was always a fun character to be around and would invariably see a funny side to most situations. He could tell a good story and knew and was known by many within all battalions of the Regiment. He did not tolerate fools easily and regardless of the consequences would voice his opinions even if there were not asked for or appreciated by the recipient. Like all of us he had his faults but he was a good friend and a dedicated Green Jacket who was always there when he was needed.

In 2002 I became ill to the extent that I would never work again and it was Peter and Joyce who dropped everything and drove up to Buckinghamshire with a bottle of whiskey and then went out and got a massive Chinese meal for all of us. For me things were very black at that time but all it took was an hour in his company (and a couple of glasses of whiskey) to get me back on a positive frame of mind.

I am going to miss you Pete. Although we did not do them that often these days I will miss our sessions at your place in Winchester in the small hours talking about the people we had known and the incidents that we were involved in over the years. I will miss your humour and your help with the knowledge you had of regimental characters that you kept stored in that database mind of yours. I will miss our occasional `quick` telephone conversations that never lasted less than an hour. I will just miss you. Until the next time old friend!

Ken Ambrose