Cmdr Colin Balfour, RN, DL 1924 - 2009
Colin and Prue Balfour Cmdr Colin Balfour, RN, DL, who died on 19th July 2009 after suffering an eight-year illness brought on by a fall, was a most charming and amusing man and, with his wife Prue, one of my parents' closest friends. He was brought up in Oxfordshire and was an early friend of Bill Birch Reynardson's and was with him at Eton. Both of them went to war in 1942, Colin joining the navy and Bill the army, and saw a great deal of action (and Bill was wounded). Colin retired from the navy in 1952 and took up farming on his family's estate at Wintershill and in Scotland, which he loved. He was for many years chairman of the governors of the local school, chairman and treasurer of the Parish Council and a church warden at Durley Church for 24 years. An excellent shot and mathematician, a superb mimic and story-teller and a kind and generous man, he and Prue maintained a wonderful social life in Hampshire and in Scotland. Among my parents' fondest memorie...