Patrick Gibson, Baron Gibson

He was held as a prisoner-of-war at Camp 41 near Parma in northern Italy, where he shared a room with Edward Tomkins and Nigel Strutt, all three becoming firm friends.

He and Tomkins escaped from the new camp, and spent 81 days walking 500 miles (800 km) south to Bari, crossing the Apennines and German lines, to return to Allied-held territory.

Gibson joined the family's Westminster Press group of regional newspapers in 1947 as a trainee journalist, rapidly rising up through the business, consolidating and expanding its media interests.

Gibson argued against the imposition of admission fees for public museums and galleries (a measure that in the end was only briefly and partially in place) and defended the council's more controversial funding decisions against charges of elitism.

He also served as chairman of the advisory council of the Victoria and Albert Museum, a director of the Royal Opera House, a trustee of Glyndebourne, a member of the National Art Collections Fund committee, treasurer of the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, and advised the Gulbenkian Foundation.