Lt Col (Retd) Derek Sibley

Lt. Col. Derek Sibley died peacefully in Farnham, Surrey on Monday 3rd August 2026. His wife Sylvia died a few days later on Saturday 8th August.

As a Sandhurst cadet, Derek attended the Queen’s coronation parade, with a memory of standing outside Westminster Abbey in the pouring rain! His intake later became known as the Coronation Intake.

Derek and Sylvia married in 1955 in their home town of Portsmouth. Their return to his posting in Lippstadt, Germany was the first of many travels across Britain, Europe and the world. Those postings included spells in Malaya, Germany (Hohne and Hildesheim) and Sudan, where Derek formed part of a British Army Training Team. UK postings included Barnard Castle, Catterick, Chester, Camberley and, finally, Wilton where Derek served at HQ UK Land Forces. In all these places, Sylvia performed the traditional “army wife” role, participating in the “family life” of the regiment through mess events, welfare activities and more.

On leaving the army, Derek worked as Bursar at the Seale-Hayne agricultural college in Devon and then moved to Guildford to work as Business Manager for the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Guildford University.

A man of great integrity and with a lifelong commitment to public service, Derek continued to serve in retirement, as chair of a parish council and with involvement in various Farnham charities. A proud soldier, he also maintained his connection with the army via regular attendances at the Remembrance Day parade at the Whitehall Cenotaph and through his and Sylvia’s continuing friendships with army people they had met on their many and varied postings.