The Life and Death of a Wargamer:
Peter Featherstone Tribute

Courier Dispatch News

by Don Featherstone

PETER FEATHERSTONE, wargamer and military historian, aged 28; Son of Don Featherstone, wargamer and writer; was killed at 2310 hours on 2nd August 1990, returning home from police duty at Heathrow Airport, when his motorcycle hit a fast-moving out-of-control car, coming out of a bend on the wrong side of the road.

Peter Featherstone grew up in a family household where, as a toddler, he watched his Mother and Sisters industriously collating, stapling and packing his Father's home-produced magazine WARGAMERS NEWSLETTER.

In time, until he became bored, he was allowed to take a carefully supervised part in the activities. Every Wednesday evening he saw five grownup men vanish with his Father into an upstairs room which he knew as the Forbidden Territory of the Wargames Room. Those same five wargamers who knew Peter as a small boy still come on Wednesday evening for wargaming, and mourn him with me. Frustratingly, theirarrival coincided with his bed-time, but when older he was allowed to mingle with them, his blonde head just level with the colourful armies on the green baize table. Sometimes hetooka minor part, but usually preferred floor-battles with school-mates, employing 54mm plastic knights, cowboys, Indians and red-coated Guardsmen in glorious free-for-alls.

A singular juvenile feature lay in Peter's seeming disdain for anything his fatherwrote on the hobby, nevercan I recall my son showing the slightest interest in WARGAMERS NEWSLETTER. Books - WARGAMING: NAVALWARGAMING, AIRWARGAMES: ADVANCED WARGAMES etc. etc. appeared, to be completely ignored; last year I gave him a personally-inscribed copyof my latest COMPLETE WARGAMING and I believe he read it. This spirit of independence continued when he chose to become a Tolkein-fan; Christmas and birthdays brought requests for grotesque Orcs, Hobbits, elves and the like, and I winced as he borrowed my wargames table for contests whose outcome seemingly depended on a wizard's whim. Painstakingly and skillfully, Peter painted every figure himself; today that huge Tolkein army in its heavy metal tookbox lays in my wargames room, as it has done for years. Next came Dungeons and Dragons, when Peter and earnest friends pored over sheets of graph- paper, sucking pencils and drinking coffee.

After a spell in the Prince of Wales Infantry Division of the British Army ending in disappointment at failing to gain entrance to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Peter joined the Metropolitan Police. Off-duty periods in the section-house in London's Soho gave him time to paint figures, and his known military interests caused his Bow Street colleagues to christen him "Wellington", the name by which they knew him to the end. Regularly, he played with thinking wargamers in London -- Ian Drury and Adrian Whiting, a traffic policeman, with whom Peter set up at our traditional Southampton Boxing Day wargame last year, perhaps the most realistic wargame I have ever fought.

The two lads controlled an Isandhlwana-type battle in which a mere 78 British figures with two field guns, used their Martini-Henry rifles so effectively as to hold off 2,000 Zulu figures! Atthe same time, fortnightly he rode down from London on his beloved BMW 1000cc motorcycle, stayed the night with us in Southampton, and fought a Wednesday evening battle with Richard Brooks in Southsea. They fought to an interesting system with both wargamers on the same side, fighting an unpredictable enemy.

His large armies of 25mm Ancients has been replaced by 15mm figures, which he painted to superb standards, proudly bringingsamples to show me. He had Russians and Turks for the Russo-Turkish War 1977; British, Egyptians and Dervishes for Sudan campaigns; large forces of French, Austrians and Russians - he had an unfulfilled ambition of refighting Borodino with every unit present - and towards the end of his life, French Revolutionary War armies. He was a typical wargamer in that he always wanted more and more figures, possessing hundreds of unpainted castings, yet always asking for figures for birthday presents. On the night of his death, three weeks ago, he told me over the telephone that he was sending me a list of the figures he wanted for his birthday on 22nd August. Possibly the last thing he ever wrote, the list in an addressed envelope was given me by the police bringing the contents of his pockets after the crash.

Eighteen months ago, Peter married Caroline, who allowed the spare bedroom in the Putney flatto become a wargames room; here he had his first wargames table, terrain and the walls adorned with framed military prints. Regularly buying every wargaming magazine, he had neat piles of MILITARY MODELLING: MINIATURE WARGAMES: PRACTICAL WARGAMER: and WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED, plus American journals I passed to him.

Then, five weeks before his death, they moved into a fine house at Sunbury-on-Thames where the measure of Caroline's devotion was such that he turned the front master-bedroom into a superb wargames room. Here, during his last weekend, he and I fought one of our rare mutual games, an intriguing Hicks Pasha-type Sudanese battle with Dervishes emerging unexpectedly from all points of the compass. On the last day of his life, right up to the very last moment before leaving for duty at Heathrow, he sat at that table painting French Revolutionary Army figures that remain their now, forlornly half-painted.

With two friends, he and I had planned to spend the weekend of 1Oth August at BATTLE HONOUR'S' WARCON THREE' at Birmingham University -- instead we went to his Memorial Service and Funeral on that day.

Danny Boreham of BATTLE HONOURS, at his Convention, touchingly presented THE PETER FEATHERSTONE MEMORIAL TROPHY, to be fought for annually.

A courageous policeman, Peter disarmed and captured an armed bandit in London's Strand, being awarded the Highest Commendation for Bravery by Police Commissioner Sir Peter Imbert at a New Scotland Yard Investiture last October. Not only was he one of the few wargamers who have faced a real weapon in anger, but Peter was almost unique in being born into wargaming, practising it enthusiastically for most of his life, and dying at the height of enjoyment of the hobby.

Perhaps his story, sadly related here by his Father, will serve as a memorial to wargamers no longer with us, whose lives had been made happier by their devotion to WARGAMING, our colourful and harmless hobby of fighting tabletop battles with model soldiers.

Don, we all grieve with you. - Dick, Leo & Joe.

Courier Dispatch News of The Hobby

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