Steve Ford
Hi Gents,
I'm Steve's younger brother Paul. I thought I would register on your site to post a couple of replies to your kind and very moving posts.
I followed Steve into the Army two years after him (1973) but they said I was too small to join him in the Royal Engineers - I guess they'd filled their Sapper quotas that year. Still, I joined the Royal Signals and served for a most enjoyable 27 years, often meeting up or coming across Steve on various postings and tours. I've flown with him in so many aircraft, I can't even begin to count. He was always, as so many of you have recognised, the consummate professional, always knew what he was doing, exuded confidence, never one to show-off, and every achievement of his was understated or not even mentioned. He was a rock to me and our younger brother Mike, someone you could always rely on in a crisis, and a damn good friend to boot. This is a terribly difficult time as you can imagine, but it is what we have learned from Steve that is actually enabling us to get through this.
I went to see Steve at the chapel of rest at the hospital in Exeter on Monday. It was pretty devastating and distressing, but I had to do it (Mike couldn't bear to go) just to see Steve one last time. He looked so still and quiet, so not the Steve we all know and love. And yet at the same time I hope I can give you all some small amount of comfort in telling you that he look very much at peace.
I thought you might like to know a little about how his accident happened. As many of you know he was an advanced rider and a very experience motorcyclist and not one to take risks. He had gone out for a ride to clear his head since he'd been having a tough time lately with so many things going on. The weather was fine and dry on Saturday and he was on a fairly straight country back-road, one he knew very well north of Chudleigh near Exeter. The police have managed to establish that there were no other vehicles involved. It would appear that rather than taking a slight left-hand bend after a straight section of about 300 yds he simply went straight on, tragically colliding with a house which was below the level of the road. Post Mortem results have revealed nothing out of the ordinary and there has been nothing to suggest mechnical failure on his bike. It's not a section of road you could imagine making a mistake on or doing something accidental (we visited the site this morning). We are unlikely to ever know precisely what caused him to leave the road, we can only imagine that he blacked out. We do know that he is very unlikely to have taken his own life. Forgive me if I have gone into such detail, but I think it is better for you all to know everything that has been established so far rather than be left wondering over so many of the bewildering whys and hows.
I'm more than happy to respond to any questions you may have and will check the site every day. Also, I will post details of the funeral arrangements, which will be at Exeter Crematorium next week, hopefully by close of play tomorrow.
My heartfelt thoughts to all of you who knew him, served and worked with him, crewed with him, or shared a beer and a laugh. He always spoke very highly of all his friends and colleages, of which he had so many.
With kind regards,
Paul Ford