Peter de la Billière

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Peter Edgar de la Cour de la Billière , KCB , KBE , DSO , MC & Bar (* 29. April 1934 in Plymouth , Devon , England ) is a former British officer of the British Army , which among other things 1979 to 1983 the Special Air Service ( SAS), the special unit of the British Army served, and most recently as general during the Second Gulf War between October 1990 and March 1991 commander of the British armed forces in the Middle East and was responsible for the implementation of Operation Granby .

Life

Officer training and director of the SAS

Peter Edgar de la Cour de la Billière, son of the naval doctor Lieutenant Commander Denis de la Billière and his wife Kitty Lawley, joined the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1952 after attending Wellesley House School and the renowned Harrow School, founded in 1572 . He was then a lieutenant (Second Lieutenant) in the light infantry regiment Durham Light Infantry and in 1956 switched to the 22nd Regiment of the Special Air Service (SAS), the special unit of the British Army . For his service during the so-called "Malayan Emergency" in the Malaya Federation , he was mentioned in the war report on April 21, 1959 ( Mentioned in dispatches ) and was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for his service on the Arabian Peninsula on August 25, 1959 . In 1962 he was transferred to the colony of Aden and began a course at Staff College Camberley in 1964 , which he did not pass. Subsequently, he was Major Commander ( Commanding Officer ) of A Squadron 22 SAS , with whom he was deployed in Borneo during the " Konfrontasi " conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia , and for whom he was wearing a clasp (bar) to the Military Cross was awarded.

Subsequently, de la Billière passed the course at Staff College Camberley and was then staff officer for military intelligence (G2) in the strategic command and deputy commander of the 22nd SAS regiment, of which he was in command from 1972 to 1974. For use in Musandam and Dhofar in Oman , he was a Lieutenant Colonel (Lieutenant Colonel) on 27 January 1976, the Distinguished Service Order awarded (DSO). After subsequent uses, he was finally 1979 as Brigadier General (Brigadier) successor to Brigadier General John Watts as Director of the Special Air Service (SAS). He remained in this post until he was replaced by Brigadier General John Foley in 1983. During this time, Operation Nimrod brought an end to the hostage-taking in the Iranian embassy in London in 1980 . He was also responsible for planning the operation Mikado in May 1982 when during the Falklands War at the base of the SAS units Argentine Air Force ( Fuerza Aérea Argentina ) in Rio Grande five combat aircraft of the type Dassault Super Étendard destroyed. For his services, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on December 31, 1982 .

Promotion to General and Second Gulf War

In June 1984 Peter de la Billière was transferred to the Falkland Islands , where he took over the post of Commander of the British Forces in the South Atlantic (Commander, British Forces, Falkland / South Atlantic Islands) . On January 2, 1985, he was appointed Major General (Major-General) promoted, the promotion was backdated to June 20 1983rd After his return, he replaced Major General Peter Chiswel as Commanding General of Wales ( General Officer Commading , Wales) in September 1985 . He remained in this use until December 1987 and was subsequently replaced by Major General Morgan Llewellyn . On December 31, 1987 he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the suffix "Sir".

In January 1988, Lieutenant General (Lieutenant General) de la Billière supreme commander of the Military District South (General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South-East District) in the garrison Aldershot and succeeds Lieutenant General Michael Gray . He remained on this use until December 1990, whereupon Lieutenant General Richard Swinburn took his place there. Most recently he was General during the Second Gulf War, succeeding Air Chief Marshal Sandy Wilson between October 1990 and his replacement by Air Vice Marshal Ian Macfadyen in March 1991, Commander of the British Armed Forces in the Middle East and was responsible for the implementation of Operation Granby . On June 29, 1991 he was also made Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). For his services in the Second Gulf War, he was awarded the Canadian Meritorious Service Medal on June 8, 1993 .

Publications

  • Storm Command: A Personal Account of the Gulf War , London 1992
  • Supreme Courage: Heroic Stories From 150 Years of the Victoria Cross , Little, Brown, London 2004, ISBN 0-316-72591-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41692, HMSO, London, April 24, 1959, p. 2764 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41798, HMSO, London, August 21, 1959, p. 5353 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 43990, HMSO, London, May 20, 1966, p. 6106 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46808, HMSO, London, January 26, 1976, p. 1295 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  5. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 62
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 49212, HMSO, London, December 30, 1982, p. 5 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  7. ↑ MINISTRY OF DEFENSE AND TRI-SERVICE SENIOR APPOINTMENTS , p. 43
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 50059, HMSO, London, March 11, 1985, p. 3467 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  9. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 224
  10. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES (leighrayment.com)
  11. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 51171, HMSO, London, December 30, 1987, p. 2 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  12. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 76
  13. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES (leighrayment.com)
  14. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 52588, HMSO, London, June 28, 1991, p. 24 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
  15. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 53326, HMSO, London, June 7, 1993, p. 9831 ( PDF , accessed January 13, 2019, English).
personal data
SURNAME Billière, Peter de la
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Billière, Peter Edgar de la Cour de la (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British general
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Plymouth , Devon , England