It is with deep regret that we announce that Major Martin Cracknell, who served as a Company Commander in 1 Green Jackets and later as 2i/c 2nd Bn RGJ 1967-1968, died on Friday 16 December 2011.

William Martin, died, aged 82, after a long struggle with cancer. Beloved husband for nearly 50 years to Gillian; very proud father of Charles, Kate, Emma and James.

Information gleaned is very brief: Cremation in Fife on 23 December but with no details. Family close and private.

Obituary

Major William Cracknell

The Oxfordshire and  Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

 and The Royal Green Jackets

William Martin Cracknell was born on 24 June 1929 and educated at St Edwards, Oxford where he was a keen sportsman showing an aptitude for rugby and rowing, playing the former for Devon County. He was offered a Rowing Scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford but preferred entry to RMA Sandhurst. He enlisted in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd & 52^nd) and was commissioned in July 1949. He joined the Regiment in November that year and was with the Battalion in England for a brief period before sailing on the HT Dilwarafor Greece, arriving in Salonica in June 1950. Almost immediately the Battalion re-embarked for Cyprus and moved to Waynes Keep Camp, near Nicosia. Cracknell settled down quickly to a routine of training and sport where he distinguished himself throwing the discus and playing hockey for the Regiment. He was described as a confident subaltern, large both in voice and stature; a natural leader with an infectious sense of humour and who enjoyed Mess life. In July 1951, Cracknell was promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to Support Company. He was a good shot and was in the team that won the Non-Central King George Cup match and later in the year he helped the Regiment to win the Island Inter-Unit Ski Race. He widened his military experience when he was attached to HQ 2 Infantry Brigade to run the Operations Room. In 1952 he was promoted to Captain and returned to the Regiment to command Support Company.

In 1953 the Regiment moved to the Canal Zone. Cracknell transferred to HQ Company and was involved in the `first engagement' at Abu Sultan, the important 9 Base Ammunition Depot. Cracknell opened fire on four Bedouin who were seen crossing the perimeter minefield and wire and, despite his proven marksmanship he missed! The would-be thieves were subsequently captured. In April the Regiment returned to England before moving to Osnabruck, British Army of the Rhine, where Cracknell was appointed Intelligence Officer.

In 1954 he began a three year secondment to the Regular Officers' Special Training School, in Accra, Ghana, training potential officers. After this he attended the Staff College, Camberley, followed by a short spell at the Regiment's Depot, Cowley Barracks,Oxford. In 1958 Cracknell returned to the Regiment, now re-titled 1^st Green Jackets (43rd & 52^nd), based in Polymedia Camp, Limassol, Cyprus, when he became Adjutant while the Battalion was still engaged in the EOKA campaign.

From 1959 to 1964 he held Staff appointments in the Middle East and in Africa, rejoining the battalion in Penang, Malaysia, at the time Indonesias Confrontation with Malaysia was being fought out in the jungles of North Borneo. Cracknell, in command of `C' Company moved to Borneo with the Battalion for its third tour. The Company moved by air via Sibu and on to Kapit in the 3<sup>rd</sup> Division of Sarawak, under command of The Royal Ulster Rifles, operating in a vast area of jungle with a long frontier with Indonesia. Cracknell, like his riflemen, enjoyed the operational tours in Borneo and rose to the challenge. He enjoyed the responsibility of command in the challenging environment and relished his role of winning the hearts and minds of the local people and tribesmen. Early in 1965, the Battalion returned from Penang to England by air and then moved to Montgomery Barracks in West Berlin. Cracknell remained in command of `C' Company and experienced the complexities of soldiering in an island of democracy deep in East Germany. In September 1966, he left the recently re-titled 1^st Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets, and was appointed GSO 2 at the Canadian Forces Mobile Command in Montreal.

 Cracknell's final spell at regimental duty was a short one. He was Second-in-Command of 2 RGJ, stationed at Munster, BAOR, from November 1968 to March 1969 when he retired from the Army. There can have been few who enjoyed soldiering as much as Martin Cracknell. He counted himself fortunate in his many and varied postings; served in 16 countries, seeing active service in Cyprus, the Canal Zone and Borneo. He gained wide experience and showed real ability to command but, disappointed that his ambition of command of a Green Jackets battalion would remain unfulfilled, he retired from the Army.

In civilian life he was appointed head of Training and Education at the British Printing Industries Federation before being selected as Chief Executive of Glenrothes Development Corporation, the new town of Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland, in 1976. Using his Army experience to good effect, he nurtured the town through its early years and developed its infrastructure and administration, both commercial and leisure, until 1993. Finally, he became Chairman of the Committee for Scotland of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce for which service he was awarded the Chevaliers Cross of Order of Meritof the Federal Republic of Germany.

Martin struggled for 30 years against cancer but he never complained and was invariably positive and cheerful. He was a larger than life character who was devoted to his family, the welfare and success of his Regiment and the Scottish town of Glenrothes.

He died on 16 December 2011, aged 82. The cremation on 23 December was very well attended. He is survived by his wife Gillian, whom he married in 1962, and his sons and daughters, Charles, Kate, Emma and James and his ten grandchildren.

George Elliott