Peter Cavendish was born in India in August 1925. His father was a Sherwood Forester for the bulk of his service until transferred into command of the 8 Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment in 1941.

Colonel P. B. Cavendish therefore has associations with both famous infantry regiments, who were amalgamated to form the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment.

He joined the Army in 1943 straight from school at Winchester, did a university short course at New College, Oxford, and was commissioned on 1 July 1945, initially in the ‘Royals’. He transferred to the 3rd Hussars the following year when the latter took over the role of airborne divisional reconnaissance.

With the 3rd Hussars on operations in Palestine he was parachute trained, promoted Captain as RSO early in 1947 and at the end of that year as Squadron Leader at the age of 22. He then became the ADC to Maj. General Sir Hugh Stockwell, the GOC of 6 Airborne Division, moving with his General when the latter became the Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in 1948.

Returning in 1950 to the 3rd Hussars in BAOR, he became their Adjutant for 3 years before taking up his first staff appointment with HQ 6 Armoured Division.

After Staff College in 1955, he returned once more to the 3rd Hussars in Germany, this time as their Training Officer, then a short tour at the D& M School in Bovington, before going to Canada in 1958, there to be the Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General of HQ Eastern Command for 2 1/2 years in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In his absence the 3rd Hussars amalgamated with the 7th Hussars to become the Queen’s Own Hussars and in 1961 he returned to them for 2 years as Squadron Leader and 2nd Command.

Posted to the War Office as GSO 2 (RAC Training), he left Whitehall and moved back to Bovington, there to set up HQ DRAC. He was transferred to the 14^th/20^th King’s Hussars as Second-in-Command in June 1965 and joined the regiment in Benghazi.

He assumed command of the Regiment on 1 November 1966 and handed over to Lt. Colonel Michael Palmer on 1 July 1969.

He was awarded the OBE in June 1969 at the same time as Princess Anne became our Colonel-in-Chief. His next appointment was at HQ 1 British Corps in BAOR, where he was the Colonel GS before being promoted Brigadier in December 1971 on assuming command of the RAC Centre.

From August 1974 to August 1975, he attended the National Defence College of Canada (the equivalent of the Royal College of Defence Studies) and in 1975 was at HQ NATO in Brussels where he was the Secretary to the International Military Staff and of the Military Committee, the highest military authority in NATO.

He was appointed Colonel of the Regiment on 16 August 1976 in succession to Colonel R. P. D. F. Allen MBE and handed over the role as Colonel of the regiment to Colonel Sir Michael Palmer KCVO on 15 February 1981.

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