A formerBritish Army major and Cold War spy has died at the age of 66.

Simon Gordon-Duff, who lived in Beckley, was a Scots Guard and a helicopter pilot before becoming a spy for the British Army in Berlin.

From Edinburgh, Mr Gordon-Duff was educated at Eton and joined the Scots Guards after leaving school.

Mr Gordon-Duff was an excellent pilot and flew helicopters for the British Army in Malaysia in 1963.

He was mentioned in despatches for his bravery in Yemen in 1968.

In 1976, Mr Gordon-Duff joined the British Commanders in Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany.

His job was to travel openly across the Berlin Wall into East Germany. Fluent in Russian and German, Mr Gordon-Duff’s mission was to gain information about the military capabilities of the Russians and the East Germans.

During his operations, Mr Gordon-Duff had several narrow escapes and was lucky to escape serious injury when his Opel car was rammed by a truck in an attack believed to have been carried out by the East German secret police.

In returning to civilian life he settled in Oxford-shire, but worked for estate agent Knight Frank in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Mr Gordon-Duff married Caroline Howard at St Anthony of Padua Church in Headington in 1990.

After taking early retirement he ran an organic cattle farm at Lodge Farm in Beckley.

Mr Gordon-Duff died from liver cancer on January 3.

His funeral, at Beckley Church on Saturday, January 17, was attended by about 200 people. He leaves his wife, 61, and a step-son, Nicholas Craig, 31.