Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Weldon MVO MBE MC


Francis William Charles Weldon was born on 2 Aug 1913. He was the son of Walter Langford Weldon and Emma Tod. He was educated at Wellington and served in the Royal Artillery throughout the War, Mentioned in Despatches, taken prisoner, and awarded the MC. He commanded the King’s Troop RHA from 1949 to 1954.

He was a prominent equestrian competitor. He won a team gold medal in the Eventing at the 1956 Summer Olympics at Stockholm and also received an individual bronze medal. He was European Champion in 1953 1954 and 1955. He continued to influence the sport as an international judge and adviser and played an important role as Director of the world’s premier Three-Day Event at Badminton.

Colonel Weldon’s famous Three-Day Event horse was Kilbarry. It was not his charger at St John’s Wood although he was ridden on Salutes and other ceremonial parades. He bought the 5-year-old horse for 750 pounds from a farmer, Roland Farrow near Newark. While he was CO of the King’s Troop he visited Mr Farrow as a potential National Service recruit and ended up buying Kilbarry with a view to winning the Gunner Gold Cup at Sandown. This he subsequently achieved in 1955 and 1956, on a horse called Snowball Jim, which was bought as an eventer to replace Kilbarry. Colonel Weldon was married to Diana Anderson on 9 Mar 1946. They had two sons, George and David. He died on 21 Sep 1993.


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