As it was, he spent that last summer of peace in Norfolk, sailing, socialising and soldiering as a volunteer in the Royal Norfolk Regiment's TA Battalion, which he had joined in May.A keen bird-watcher, he fell in love and remained so with the north Norfolk coast and, in particular, the Drove, a former rectory in Thornham that became his family holiday retreat and from 1940 onwards his home.He was commissioned in 1940 but when the Norfolks went to France was considered too young to command a platoon and much to his chagrin was left behind. However, this proved to be fortunate, for the bulk of his battalion serving with the 51st (Highland Division) were captured at St Val?-en-Caux. He by then found himself in a reinforcement camp at Rouen, but successfully escaped via Cherbourg. As second in command of D Company in the reformed 7th Battalion, he returned to Normandy shortly after D Day. On arrival his company commander was taken for another position, so he assumed command. Returning home to convalesce, Jamieson was asked by his parents what had happened to him. He replied: "I've been in one or two tight spots."After a period as an instructor at the School of Infantry at Warminster he was posted to the British Military Mission in Egypt.
In 1948 he resigned his commission to pursue a highly successful business career with interests in Australia and the UK. While on a visit to Australia he was invited to join the Australian Agricultural Commission. Within a year he became their director and in 24 years as governor of the company he succeeded in transforming their fortunes.He then went on to hold directorships with the UK branch of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, the National Westminster Bank and Steetley, as well as the chairmanship of the Norfolk Fruit Growers. In 1963 his private life was touched with tragedy when his wife, Nancy, whom he had known since childhood, was killed in a car accident.He felt greatly honoured, when in 1968, he was appointed a member of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, the Queen's Body Guard, where he was a firm favourite of the Queen Mother. He became Clerk of the Cheque and Adjutant from 1981 to 1986 and delivered up his Stick of Office on becoming a Lieutenant of the Corps, a position he held until 1990, when he was appointed CVO. In 1980 he was made High Sheriff of Norfolk.During the last part of his life he stoically came to terms with having both legs amputated and being confined to a wheelchair.
However, his indomitable spirit prevailed and he developed a passion for painting and tapestry-making. In the 1990s he moved to a specially equipped home with his second wife but the Drove and its orchards were, for this profoundly modest man, his spiritual home, for he loved the beach and the marshes and the bird life.Max Arthur. If strikes had a kamikaze rating, the current wildcat stoppages by thousands of postal workers across the country would rank close to the top of the list. Signs of waning in-house support for more Tube strikes suggest that London Underground employees are belatedly realising the risks involved in industrial action aimed at hurting customers who have nothing to do with the dispute in question. The difference is that while long-suffering users of the Tube have nowhere else to turn, consumers of the mail service increasingly do.
