Colin McIntyre - Telegraph Colin Ian McIntyre was born on January 27 1927 in Buenos Aires, where his father ran a cotton factory, and educated at St George's College in nearby Quilmes. In 1945, when he was 17, Colin joined the British Army and was commissioned in the Black Watch, serving as a platoon officer and company commander with the Lovat Scouts in Greece and as a captain and staff officer with 6th Airborne Division in Palestine. He also became one of the Oasis poets, Second World War servicemen who wrote poetry about their experiences between 1939 and 1945. In the 1950s he joined the TA and became a major and Quartermaster General in 47 (London) Infantry Brigade. A keen sportsman both in the Army and at university, he managed to represent the United States at rugby against Bermuda in 1949, while the following year playing for Bermuda against the USA. While studying at Harvard in 1950, he and a Cambridge graduate were the first to cross the United States on Corgi parachutists" minibikes, travelling from San Francisco to Washington DC by way of New Orleans. McIntyre joined the BBC as a staff journalist in 1952, remaining with the corporation for 30 years. Starting in the newsroom of the BBC's External Services, he became one of the youngest chief sub-editors there in 1955. He later trained as a television producer and served as a correspondent at the United Nations during the Suez and Hungary crises before becoming the BBC's chief publicity officer for seven years and programme promotions executive between 1972 and his appointment as Ceefax editor in 1974. In 1982, aged 55, he took early retirement to write books, while acting as a teletext consultant in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. His Monuments of War: How to Read a War Memorial appeared in 1990. He was a member of the Circle of Wine Writers and publicity officer for the Western Front Association. His death came four weeks after the Ceefax service was switched off in London. It will end transmissions altogether in October when the digital switchover is completed. Colin McIntyre is survived by his American wife, Field, with whom he had recently celebrated 60 years of marriage, their three daughters and a son. Colin McIntyre, born January 27 1927, died May 17 2012