Brigadier Frank Goadby was the driving force behind the Royal British Legion in Oxfordshire for many years.

He served as county chairman and later county president after a distinguished military career.

He took pride in pushing up membership of the Legion and inspiring a year by year increase in Oxfordshire’s Poppy Day collections.

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He was born in Reading in 1899, the son of a dentist, who encouraged him in his love of nature.

As a boy, he would cycle many miles to add a wild flower to his collection.

He joined the Army in 1917, went to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and was commissioned with the Royal Engineers.

By 1919, he was serving in India, the start of two lengthy spells, during which he served as a company and battalion commander, assistant quarter master general, brigadier and sub-area commander.

He was the last British General in Calcutta and the last British Commander in Bombay.

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One of his tasks while in India was to update military routes, which meant walking hundreds of miles through panoramic scenery, sometimes at altitudes of 19,000ft.

After retiring from the Army in 1949, he embarked on a long career of public service, as a county and district councillor, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the county, treasurer of Standlake Football Club, president of Standlake Youth Centre, a manager at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford and president of the Oxford branch of the Burma Star Association.

At one point, he calculated that he was a member of 44 committees, in local government and in other spheres of Oxfordshire life.

However, his priority was always his work with the British Legion.

Taking over as county chairman in 1953, he set targets of 10,000 members and £10,000 Poppy Day collections.

He remained county chairman until 1971, then served six years as county president before retiring.

His love of nature remained with him throughout his life - during his Army training at Camberley, Surrey, he was not only a student but ‘gardener-in-chief’.

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When he retired from the Army, he and his wife Joan moved to 400-year-old Gaunt Mill at Standlake.

With their love of nature and landscaping, they transformed what was a wilderness into a show garden, with the River Windrush running nearby.

It remained their home until 1981 when they moved to a Royal British Legion flat at Frank Cook Court, Kidlington. The brigadier died in 1985, aged 85.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF