Former Birmingham journalist John Wood, who worked for the BBC for 25 years, has died, aged 83.
Mr Wood, who had been suffering with diabetes-related problems for several years, rose to Chief Press and Public Relations Officer at Pebble Mill after starting his career with the corporation in London in the 1950s.
He eventually retired from the corporation in 1983.
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Educated at Aston Commercial School, Birmingham, he began his career as a trainee reporter with the Birmingham Post and Mail in January 1947 and later worked at the Cannock Advertiser and Wolverhampton Chronicle.
His daughter Kerrie Tillott said: “His spirit of adventure and passion for writing took him further afield and, at the very young age of 22, he left England for a job as a reporter on the East African Standard newspaper in Nairobi, Kenya.
“His service with the East African Standard included the whole period of the Mau Mau rebellion.
“He was able to carry out his National Service in the Kenya Police Reserve and later on in the Kenya Regiment, the King’s African Rifles.
“He joined one of the two reserve regiments of the Special air Service, the 23rd Regiment, in 1957 as a trooper, and rose to captain before retiring in 1972.
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“He also served as a member of the Parachute Regiment.
“In 1970, he returned to Kenya, this time with his wife and family on secondment from the BBC, to take up a position with the Kenyan Radio and Television counterpart to the BBC, Voice of Kenya, in Nairobi.
“Upon his return to England in 1973 he went to Pebble Mill.”
After leaving the BBC, he worked as a freelance journalist, including spells with the Post and Mail and Walsall Chamber of Commerce.
John, who lived in Walsall, leaves a wife Elaine, two daughters and four grandchildren.
His funeral has been arranged for March 18 at Streetly Crematorium at 1.30pm.