Major Gordon Burt, decorated officer with the Paras and intelligence gatherer in Northern Ireland – obituary
Burt made contacts in the local community, and his combination of toughness, tact and humour lowered the temperature in fraught situations
Burt in an RAF balloon cage before descending to the drop zone, 1965
Major Gordon Burt, who has died aged 88, served in the Parachute Regiment and with the Special Forces; he was awarded an MC for his services as an intelligence officer in Northern Ireland.
Burt was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment in 1970. After three years as second in command of the Junior Parachute Company, he was posted to the 3rd Battalion (3 Para) and went to Northern Ireland as an intelligence officer.