My friend Mick Biegel, who has died aged 69 of cancer, operated successfully in varied arenas, primarily in the armed forces. He spent 10 years in the Green Howards, 15 years in the Territorial Army (now the Army Reserve), and was commandant of the Essex army cadet force. He also led the education team at the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) in Colchester, Essex, for which he appointed OBE in 2004.
Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, to Petal (nee Chapman), who later worked for the RSPB, and Patrick Biegel, an RAF officer, Mick also held in high regard his uncle Peter Biegel, an equestrian artist, whose work was favoured by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Mick was educated at Dauntsey’s school in the county, then gained an education degree at Didsbury College of Education (1977).
After graduating, but unable to secure a teaching post, he took a summer job in the Dutch bulbfields, which enabled him to reconnect with his Dutch cousins. He then worked for the armed forces goods and services supplier Naafi in Nottingham before going to Sandhurst and being commissioned into the Green Howards in 1980.
Military service took him all over the world, including Cyprus, Kenya, Germany, Canada and Australia. While serving in Northern Ireland, he met Alison Glasse, a fellow army officer, in 1986, and they married in 1988. Mick left the army the following year (although in 1999 as a reservist he volunteered for the Nato peacekeeping force in Bosnia), and the couple settled in Great Wigborough, Essex, in 1991.
Mick then worked for Essex Training and Enterprise Council as head of training (1991-95), as well as a freelance quality inspector for army education centres. He returned temporarily to full-time reserve service with the MCTC (2001-05), while also serving as commandant of Essex army cadet force. For this, and his voluntary work with the Essex branch of the Army Benevolent Fund and the Essex Youth Trust, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant (DL) for the county of Essex (2004).
From 2015 until 2017 he worked as office manager for the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce’s New Anglia Growth Hub. All these roles benefited from his capacity to operate positively in any setting – aided by his considerable communication skills, infectious geniality and ability as an engaging raconteur.
Mick began battlefield guiding for Anglia Tours in 1999, specialising in the first world war, and led more than 500 tours before his cancer diagnosis in 2017, which led to him losing the ability to project his voice.
Despite the illness’s severe restrictions, he continued as active a life as possible. I met Mick in 1995 when we became next-door neighbours. After my retirement and his illness we got to know each other very well, watching television sport and having regular “putting the world to rights” sessions.
Mick is survived by Alison, and their children, Thomas and Holly.
