A Son of the Rock

Two notable (to me, anyway) deaths over the weekend. I doubt either will be joining Osama Bin Laden in the Muslim version of Hell (if there is one.)

The first is military historian Richard Holmes who came to my attention with his TV series War Walks in which he walked us through various battlefields where the British Army had been involved focusing on the role of the soldier rather than the strategy and tactics of the battles and the campaigns.

His down to earth approach included his mentioning of a “sharpener” – necessary when you’re in a tight spot about to face the enemy. A sharpener was a shot of alcohol from a hip flask. Holmes proceeded to demonstrate with a sharpener of his own.

He was, it turns out, the highest ranking Territorial Army officer, reaching the heights of Brigadier.

He was however mainly involved in education, military and civilian. After lecturing at Sandhurst he became a professor at Cranfield University and is apparently the only person to be such a lofty academic and a high ranking TA officer at the same time.

The second was Henry Cooper, the best loved British boxer of my lifetime – forgiven even for his involvement in the commercials for the after-shave Brut.

He was most famous for flooring the then Cassius Clay with a left hook before Clay (as Muhammad Ali) went on to become the best heavyweight of his times. It was only some jiggery-pokery with Clay’s gloves by his seconds that gave him time to recover and go on to win the fight. Clay was regarded in Britain at the time as something of a braggart – his boxing genius had yet to manifest itself, and it was before his stunning first victory over Sonny Liston – and Cooper was warmly loved for his bringing Clay down to size, albeit temporarily. The pair had a great mutual regard thereafter, however.

Edward Richard Holmes, 29/3/1947 – 30/4/2011.
Henry Cooper, 3/5/1934 – 1/5/2011.

So it goes.