Sir Cosmo Dugal Patrick Thomas Haskard (25 November 1916 – 21 February 2017) was an Irish-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colonial

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

and

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

. As

Governor of the Falkland Islands The governor of the Falkland Islands is the representative of the British Crown in the Falkland Islands, acting "in His Majesty's name and on His Majesty's behalf" as the islands' Viceroy in the absence of the British monarch. The role and power ...

from 1964 to 1970, he played a key role in defeating plans by

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

's Labour government to cede the sovereignty of the islands to Argentina. He turned 100 in November 2016 and died on 21 February 2017.

Life and career

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, he was the son of Brigadier-General John McDougal and Alicia "Lily" Haskard. He was educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. He passed second out of Sandhurst but failed the medical examination to enter the Army. Instead, he read modern languages at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

. At Cambridge, he served in the university's Officer Training Corps, attaining the rank of cadet

company sergeant major The company sergeant major (CSM) is the senior non-commissioned soldier of a company in the armies of many Commonwealth countries, responsible for administration, standards and discipline. In combat, their prime responsibility is the supply of ...

; he was commissioned a second lieutenant for service with the infantry unit of the Cambridge OTC contingent on 1 October 1938. Haskard was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Royal Irish Fusiliers The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry (later changed to light infantry) regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 89th (Princess ...

on 1 November 1939, attaining the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(war-substantive) by the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, Military Division (MBE) in September 1945. Haskard was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 1 January 1949, with the honorary rank of major. He relinquished his reserve commission on 25 November 1966, retaining the honorary rank of major. Haskard served as

from 1964 to 1970. As governor, he was instrumental in defeating a move by

's government to cede sovereignty of the islands to Argentina. He was appointed KCMG in the 1965 New Year Honours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskard, Cosmo 1916 births 2017 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British men centenarians British Army personnel of World War II Governors of the Falkland Islands Irish men centenarians Irish knights Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Dublin (city) Royal Irish Fusiliers officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Colonial Administrative Service officers Nyasaland people