Paddy Fox

Paddy Fox

Birth nameWilliam Francis Fox
Born(1933-09-03)3 September 1933
Clonmel, Irish Free State
Died9 January 2016(2016-01-09) (aged 82)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1951–1956, 1958–1988
RankStaff sergeant
Unit15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars

William Francis "Paddy" Fox BEM (3 September 1933 – 9 January 2016) was a British Army recruiter and Chelsea Pensioner. He served as a radio operator in the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars from 1951. With a brief period as a court usher from 1956 to 1958, Fox remained in the army until 1988. In 1968 he became a recruiter, based in Horden near Peterlee in County Durham. By the end of his career he had recruited 2,000 men to his regiment, becoming the British Army's most successful recruiting sergeant.

Fox received the British Empire Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal. In retirement Fox found employment as an usher in the Peterlee magistrates court. Suffering from poor health in later life, he entered the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 2001. He worked there as a tour guide while also maintaining allotments and helping with the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal. In 2010, as part of the hospital's Men in Scarlet act, he sang on a music album. He died in 2016.