BRIGADIER B.C Bradford DSO and Bar, MBE MC, died on Monday in Aberdeen after a long illness. He was 83. Bill Bradford was a gallant and distinguished officer of the Black Watch and his war record was unsurpassed.

He was educated at Eton, the fourth generation to attend the school. He went straight into the Army, was commissioned into the regiment on September 1, 1932, and was posted to the 1st Battalion in India. He was adjutant of the 1st Battalion at the outbreak of war.

The battalion was part of 51st Division which was captured at St Valery in 1940. He escaped on the march east to prison. His escape is the stuff of legend. On his own he marched south, swam across the Loire, crossed the Pyrenees into Spain, and was twice returned to France by the Spanish. He spent some months in Marseilles before stowing away on a ship to Algiers.

After an uncomfortable time in prison Bradford borrowed some money, bought a 14ft boat, and sailed it with a communist and a Jew to Gibraltar. None of them had sailed before except on inland water and they miraculously made the 500-mile journey, arriving in Gibraltar a year and a day after his capture. He was awarded the MBE for his escape.

He was just in time to join the reconstituted 51st Highland Division when it sailed for North Africa. He fought from Alamein, through the desert and Sicily, and on into North-west Europe. As Brigade Major of 154 Bde in the desert he was awarded the MC. He took command of 5th Battalion The Black Watch in July 1944 in Normandy.

He won his first DSO on August 18, 1944, at St Julien le Faucon, leading the battalion at night to capture a high-wooded feature. Although wounded himself he continued to inspire everyone around him to complete the task and repel constant counterattacks.

He won his second DSO on the night of February 20-21, 1945, at Goch on the Rhine. He led the battalion brilliantly, breaking up counterattacks and completing the task he had been set.

After the war he commanded a Welsh TA Battalion and he also served on the staff of 16th Airborne Division.

He took command of 2nd Battalion, the Black Watch in 1953 and took it from BAOR to British Guiana only to see it disbanded in 1956. He commanded 153 Highland Brigade in Dundee from 1957 until he retired in 1959.

He married Susan Vaughan-Lee in 1951 and she inherited the estate in Aberdeenshire to which they both devoted their lives after he left the Army. He was an expert fisherman and a good shot. They had three sons and a daughter. Two of the sons joined the Black Watch and his youngest son is currently second-in-command of the 1st Battalion.

Bradford was diagnosed in the late 1960s as having Parkinson's disease which he fought with customary pluck until his death.

I served under him as a very young subaltern in the 2nd Battalion. He was a hard taskmaster but absolutely fair and the battalion was professional and happy under his leadership. He was always fun at a party and he was never happier than seeing people enjoying themselves. It was a great privilege to have served under one of the finest commanding officers of the Black Watch.

COL ROBERT GURDON