Lt-Col Peter Hubert
Survived three helicopter crashes and an IRA ambush
LIEUTENANTCOLONEL PETER HUBERT, who has died aged 76, had an adventurous Army career and survived four close brushes with death.
His first helicopter crash was while in a Scout in Northern Ireland. In the second, he was in Alberta, Canada, in a Gazelle and on exercise with a British Army training unit. And in 1979, while serving as second-incommand of 1st Bn The Queen’s Regiment (I Queens), he was in a Sioux and returning from a reconnaissance on the North German Plain.
Flying low in poor visibility, he spotted an electricity pylon line directly ahead. It was too late. The pilot attempted to fly under the wires but these impacted between the rotor blades and the gearbox and severed the control rods.
The crash shattered the helicopter’s bubble and bent the tail so far that it was left hinged along one side of the fuselage. Hubert and his driver, a fellow passenger, scrambled out of the wreckage and dragged the unconscious pilot to safety.
Peter John Hubert was born in Edinburgh on November 26 1940. He went to school at Uppingham but signed on at a recruiting office without telling his headmaster or his parents.
He served in the ranks before gaining a place at Sandhurst and, in 1960, was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge’s Own). A natural athlete, he represented the Army at the modern pentathlon.
During the following six years, he served in BAOR, Gibraltar, Libya and in Northern Ireland before the campaign of terrorism. In 1966, he commanded Recce Platoon in British Guiana when the Bn deployed there with the task of safeguarding the colony’s transition to independence.
The Bn became part of the newly constituted Queen’s Regiment and, in 1970, he joined its 3rd Bn as 2 i/c C Company. This tour took him to Tidworth and Northern Ireland and included service in Cyprus.
In Northern Ireland he survived an IRA ambush by diving out of his vehicle and throwing himself over a wall, only to find himself falling 20 ft to the road below. He escaped with bruises. By now he was known as an accident-prone but lucky officer.
His talents were recognised by the commander of 39th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier (later General Sir) Frank Kitson, who secured Hubert’s secondment to the brigade staff in Northern Ireland. Hubert’s job was to reinforce the DAA&QMG’s team. They were responsible for the logistic support of the brigade which at times had up to 13 battalions deployed.
Hubert’s work involved travelling unescorted through hostile strongholds of the Provisional IRA and Ulster paramilitary units. His initiative and courage were recognised with his award of an operational MBE.
He had experienced what it was like to be an infantryman on sangar duty in West Belfast or standing-to, sleepless, in a cold, damp trench in mid-winter Germany, and he brought a sharp intelligence to the staff officer’s desk.
In 1980, he was moved to HQ UK Land Forces as DAA&QMG. His outstanding contribution to the mounting and provisioning of the Falkland Islands Operation in 1982 was marked by his appointment as OBE. After a spell as Commander Force Troops at HQ British Forces Belize, he commanded 6/7 Queens.
His final years in the Army were spent on the staff, first with HQ NORTHAG BAOR and then at HQ AFCENT at Brunssum, Netherlands. He retired in 1995.
Settled in the south of France, he pursued his interests in ornithology, botany, photography and Romanesque churches and was also active within the Chaplaincy of Aquitaine, part of the Anglican Archdeaconry of France.
Peter Hubert married, in 1968, Carol-Ann Littlewood, who survives him with two sons and a daughter.
Lt-Col Peter Hubert, born November 26 1940, died January 31 2017