Major General Glyn Gilbert, the architect of Bermuda's modern regiment, lost his long battle with prostate cancer this weekend.

Tributes have begun pouring in for the 84-year-old, the highest ranking Bermudian in the British Army and the recipient of the Military Cross, who died at his home in Salisbury, England on Friday.

Bermuda's most illustrious soldier, who happens also to belong to one of its oldest families (the Gilberts were firmly established on the Island by at least 1640), was commissioned to write two reports on the Bermuda Regiment during its troubles in the 1970's and is widely regarded a playing a major role in its reforms.

"I think we all owe him a certain debt," said Peter Lloyd, deputy governor from 1974 to 1981 and the man who originally invited Maj. Gen. Gilbert to work on a report on the Regiment.

"I first met him in 1977, I believe, when I asked him to work on a report on the Regiment following some trouble on a camp. And it was after the riots in December of that year that he was asked for advice on another as we looked at ways in which the Regiment could be expanded and improved.

"He did a great deal at that time to bring the Regiment up to a higher pitch. I became friends with him from then and always saw him during his regular visits to the Island since then."

And his brother John Gilbert, who served as Clerk to the Legislature for 14 years until 1989 also paid tribute to the career army man.

"Yes, it is a very sad time," he told The Royal Gazette from British Columbia, where he is currently on holiday. "He has been ill for quite some time, but these things always come as a shock when they do happen. His career was an army one but even after the war he was still pretty hectic.

"He was staying in the St. David's Hotel in Palestine when it was blown up and he also served in Malaya and Cyprus.

"But he was proud to be involved with Bermuda and he always took a terrific interest in the Bermuda Regiment and certainly when anyone from the Island went over for training in Britain he would always take them under his wing.

"He has many, many friends here and I am sure a lot of people will be saddened to hear he has passed away. He led a very full life and will be greatly missed."

Maj. Gen. Gilbert became a visible figure in the Bermuda community in 1977 when he was invited to lead a Board of Inquiry on the force commitments and manpower requirements of the Bermuda Regiment.

This arose out of severe discipline problems in the Regiment during a camp held in Barbados. The need to re-structure was further underlined by the riots of that year.

Almost all of his recommendations, which included upgrading in numbers and facilities, closer ties with the Police, a process of Bermudianisation and the introduction of women into the Force, were accepted. On his annual visits back to Bermuda, Gen. Gilbert had continue to call in on Warwick Camp but never in an official capacity. His last visit was last year as he was too ill to make the journey in 2003.

As well as continuing to maintain an involvement with the Regiment, he also contributed to the World War II exhibition at the Maritime Museum, where he not only offered advice and supplied information but also donated some artefacts.

Former commanding officer of the Bermuda Regiment Gavin Shorto, when told by this paper of the news of the demise of Maj. Gen. Gilbert, said: "This is very sad news. Glyn Gilbert was a very substantial man.

"At a personal level, his charm and his direct, friendly nature sometimes hid the fact that he had a very sharp mind, indeed. At a professional level, he became, to my knowledge, Bermuda's highest-ranking soldier.

"He didn't get there by riding a desk, he was very much a man of action.a soldier's soldier.

"Maj. Gen. Gilbert had an enormous influence on the shape of the modern Bermuda Regiment. He was asked to write a report on the way the Regiment was constituted and trained after riots in 1977. His report resulted in the Regiment being increased from, I think it was, 460 all ranks to 700. It resulted in the Regiment forming a training company to do nothing but train recruits, and a support company to provide support services to the Rifle Companies.

"It resulted in great stress being laid on NCOs and officers getting the best training available, whether that was training here in Bermuda, on secondment overseas or more formal training at some of the best military schools and colleges in the world.

"It resulted in the Camp and the equipment we used being modernised as never before. His was, in short, a report that resulted in Bermuda getting serious about having a Regiment.

"Maj. Gen. Gilbert kept in close touch with Warwick Camp, popping in every time he happened to be on the Island. I think he was proud that he'd had so much to do with our coming of age, if you like. We were certainly grateful to him for all that he was able to do."

Glyn Gilbert, who once entertained the Queen in his own home during her visit to the School of Infantry under his command, was born in England but lived in Bermuda from 1924 to 1939 attending Miss Deakin's School and Saltus Grammar School.

At 13, he went off to Eastbourne College in England and knowing that war was inevitable, he left school early and went to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and never looked back.

He was commissioned into the Lincolnshire Regiment in October 1939 and served with them until 1958 when he transferred to the Parachute Regiment.

It was on D-Day, when then Captain Gilbert's Lincolnshire Regiment took part in the great Normandy invasion, that he won the Military Cross for his actions in the assault crossing of the Escaut Canal.

He recalls: "I was the only officer who survived and later that day, the ribbon was pinned on while we were still in the field. The next day we were relieved by a contingent of Bermudians (the Bermuda Regiment was then affiliated with the Lincolnshire). I knew they were Bermudians because I could hear them laughing."

In 1970, he was promoted to the rank of Major General and was particularly honoured when he was placed in overall command of the British 3rd Division.

In 1974 he was awarded his CB (Companion of the Bath) by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

His funeral will be held in Somerset this week and his ashes will be scattered on the river that runs through his home, and his wife Jane were two years ago. He is survived by three sons, Graham, Gray and Adrian and a daughter Celia Jane as well as five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held for Maj. Gen. Gilbert in November in England.