Billy "Spuggy" Howlett

   

In 1984, Spuggy and I started our training at Juniors in Bramcote. We were in the same Battery but different Troops. When you went through training there, people from other Troops had to be exceptional for you to notice them. Now here's something strange, because without exception from our intake, all the memorable ones came to 4th.

Billy was a boy. He was a  fun loving joker, an entertainer, a drinker, but for all that he was a bloody good flaggie and CPA.

 When we joined the Bty, we latched on to each other as fellow Nigs, as you do, and we had a right laugh. Drunk too much, too many times to remember. I do remember Andy "Stretch" Blake holding us both off the floor in the corridor one night when we were a bit noisy. We took the hint.

I have done okay out of life. Never excelled but I'm alright, but Billy, I think hid a lot of stuff from us all.

There wasn't an inch of malice in him. Without going into too much detail, another member of our intake, "Dudge" Dudgeon, broke the news to me in Northern Ireland in 1991. Billy took his own life, at the age of 23.

Once a Redneck, always a Redneck!

Don't worry about how it looks, he didn't hang himself... Spuggy lad, don't laugh, this is a serious page you tw*t!

Taff Fitzgerald

Surname	HOWLETT
Forenames/Initials	Adrian Brian
Rank	Gnr
Service	Army
Service Number	24692558
Regiment/Corps	RA
Place of Birth/Home Town	Shrewsbury
Date of Birth	26 December 1967
Age	23
Date of Death	16 April 1991
Cemetery Name	Market Drayton Cemetery
Cemetery Address	Salop
Included on Armed Forces Memorial	No
Included on Roll of Honour	Yes