BEM for RBL Deputy Chaplain

It was a month ago when Rev Knox, who now lives in Garvagh, received a letter in the post telling him he had been nominated.

“I was quite surprised and taken aback, and I am grateful, humbled and honoured to receive it, because there are lots of other people who are quite a bit more qualified to receive one than me,” he said.

Rev Knox received the BEM for services to the Royal British Legion and the community in Londonderry.

Heavily involved in the RBL for 26 years, and also closely associated with the RAF Association, he is a familiar face in the city most recently taking part in and preaching at services in St Columb’s Cathedral and All Saints Clooney in connection with the Battle of Britain, among other things.

Rev Knox spent 11 years in Co Armagh as an active member of Markethill RBL, from 1989 to 2000, before moving to the Shetland Islands where he served in the church there and as a member of the RBL from 2000 to 2004. On his return to Northern Ireland he then served for a further 11 years with the RBL.

Now retired from the church, Rev Knox still has strong links with both the RBL and the RAF Association.