19 Facts About Terence Otway

Lieutenant Colonel Terence Brandram Hastings Otway DSO, was an officer in the British Army, best known for his role as commander of the paratroop assault on the Merville Battery on D-Day.

Terence Otway was at the Junior school until 1928 and the senior school until 1932.

In January 1933, Terence Otway entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst reaching the rank of cadet sergeant and passing out 18th of 200.

Terence Otway went to Staff College in June 1941, passing out 4th of 200 in December 1941.

Terence Otway started with about 750 men, few of whom had seen action before; of the 150 who took part in the attack, 65 had been either killed or wounded by the end of the action, which saved a great many Allied lives.

Terence Otway was diagnosed with severe concussion and on 19 July 1944 was evacuated to hospital in Cardiff, then graded unfit for a return to active service, and was posted as a Staff Officer to the War Office.

Terence Otway was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in October 1944 for his outstanding leadership in the actions at Merville and Le Plein.

Terence Otway was regraded category 'A' in May 1945 and posted as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion King's Regiment in Rawalpindi with instructions to turn them into the 15th Parachute Battalion, part of 77th Indian Parachute Brigade attached to the 2nd Indian Airborne Division.

In September 1945, Terence Otway was appointed GSO1 at Division which was posted to Karachi, where in December Stella and his son, Michael joined him.

Terence Otway's task was to write the official history of "Airborne Forces".

Disillusioned with the post-war Army, Terence Otway resigned his commission in January 1948.

Terence Otway joined the Colonial Development Corporation as Assistant General Manager, The Gambia, transferring a year later as a General Manager to Nyasaland.

Between 1949 and 1965 Terence Otway worked in the area of sales and management, starting by selling life insurance as a learning experience and culminating as General Manager for Kemsley Newspapers and then as managing director of the Empire News, a Sunday paper with a circulation of 5.5 million.

Terence Otway retired in 1979, but retained various connections with business in non-executive directorships.

Terence Otway became known as 'Colonel X' when fighting for the rights of serviceman's' widows and their pensions.

Terence Otway was instrumental in persuading the Government to change their miserly attitude.

Terence Otway was involved on the fringes in the case for the release of Lee Clegg, a paratrooper imprisoned for murder after a shooting in Northern Ireland at the time of the troubles.

Visitors can now see the DSO and Legion d'honneur, along with a description of the battle by Terence Otway taken from a BBC documentary.

Terence Otway described the battle, and his character was played by Philip Rham.