LIEUTENANT John Collins, the former High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, has died aged 89.

Lt Collins, pictured, had a distinguished war record as a member of the elite band of Motor Torpedo Boat officers, before pursuing successful careers in business, and as a race horse owner.

Soon after the war he married Gillian Mary Randal Smith, eldest daughter of the 2nd Baron Bicester and for many years the couple lived at Tusmore Park, near Bicester.

The house was later bought by Wafic Said, who was to completely rebuild the Palladian home.

John Ernest Harley Collins MBE, DSC, DL, was born in Durban, South Africa, in 1923, before his family moved to Birmingham where his father set up a business as a furrier.

He was educated at King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and he went on to serve in the Navy from 1941 to 1946.

After being called up, he was selected for officer training at HMS King Alfred and in 1942 was appointed to Coastal Forces. He took part in operations along the North African coast, later joining a motor torpedo boat based initially at Malta and Sicily.

He was to be appointed MBE for the remarkable bravery he showed helping save lives by plunging into blazing toxic waters in the harbour at Bari in 1943, when shipping supporting the 8th Army came under attack from German bombers.

The suffering of hundreds of men was compounded because one of the bombed American ships was carrying mustard gas bombs, intended to be used in retaliation should the Germans employ chemical weapons.

Mixed with the oil and gas, it was to have a terrible effect on the men in the water and their rescuers, producing blisters and burns.

Both the British and American governments initially hushed up the disaster but the courage of Lt Collins was eventually fully recognised.

Later in the war, he saw action in the Adriatic with his flotilla chalking up a remarkable record of firing torpedoes to sink or immobilise 21 ships. After the war he joined his father-in-law’s bank Morgan Grenfell, subsequently becoming a director of the bank in 1957.

He succeeded Sir John Stevens as chairman of Morgan Grenfell Holdings in 1974.

Lt Collins, always known as (Tiny) Tim, a nickname from the Navy referring to his 6ft 6in height, became an important figure in the racing world.

One of his celebrated steeplechasers, Remittance Man, won the 1991 Arkle Challenge Trophy and the 1992 Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.

He served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire from 1975 until 1996 and was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1975.

Gillian died in 1981 and Lt Collins married Jennifer Cubitt, the widow of Captain Alick Cubitt, in 1986, moving to Chetwode Manor in Buckinghamshire.

He is survived by her, the son and daughter of his first marriage, and the two step-daughters of his second.