Oxford-educated Sir Rex, a former Spitfire pilot and overseas civil servant from 1951, was governor of the Falkland Islands between 1980 and 1985.
He became a household name in 1982 when he was captured by the invading Argentine forces and forcibly evacuated to Montevideo in Uruguay.
When the invasion began on April 1, Sir Rex made Government House the operational headquarters for the Royal Marines.
He sent his wife and son away to a safer house and told the domestic staff to leave with just their most valuable possessions.
In a later interview he said: "Nanny, our housekeeper, got her priorities right.
"Off she went with a picture of the Queen under one arm and a bottle of gin under the other."
Outnumbered after a fierce gun battle, Sir Rex took the painful decision to surrender. Wearing his plumed governor's hat, he went to the town hall in Stanley to meet the Argentine general commanding the invasion, Admiral Carlos Busser.
He refused to shake hands with him, saying: "You have landed unlawfully on British territory and I order you to remove yourself and your troops forthwith."
Sir Rex also refused to shake hands with the new Argentine governor, General Garcia.
During the weeks of the war, Sir Rex stayed in London while his wife and son were in a house in Kent. He returned to Fort Stanley in July and was knighted in October 1982.
'Бій відлунав. Жовто-сині знамена затріпотіли на станції знов'
некрологи - Chestnut13.11.2012 18:58:01 (84, 8961 b)
