Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Christopher Brooke Quentin Wallace (3 January 1943 – 7 January 2016) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and military historian.

Early life

Born the son of Major Robert and Diane Wallace, he was competitive from boyhood. At his preparatory school where he was head boy as well as captain of cricket and football, the headmaster noted "This boy needs to learn to lead rather than drive." He was further educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

where he was also head boy. As a boy he had developed a love of singing and this continued into later life. At the age of 18, Wallace entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he passed out top of the order of merit, receiving the Queen's Medal.

Military career

Wallace was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion Green Jackets (

Kings Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

) in 1962. The regiment saw service in Penang and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation as part of

Far East Land Forces The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command ( ABDACOM), and secondly, 1963–1971 succeeded ...

(FARELF) from December 1964 to November 1967 under Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Bramall. Wallace attended the

Royal Military College of Science The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) was a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider with origins dating back to 1772. It became part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2009, and ceased to exist ...

from September to December 1974 and this was followed by a year at the Staff College, Camberley. He had three tours of duty in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

for which he was mentioned in despatches. Wallace 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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginn ...

, and advanced to Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

. Wallace's regimental service in the Royal Green Jackets concluded with command of the 3rd Battalion in Germany and Northern Ireland from 1983 to 1985. While on exercises at Celle,

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

, he was sharing a tented trailer with his second-in-command when a gas lamp exploded and set the accommodation ablaze. Wallace was badly burned on the hands and face while getting his brother officer to safety. He became commander of

7th Armoured Brigade 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

in 1986, Director of Public Relations (Army) in the Ministry of Defence in 1989 and General Officer Commanding 3rd Armoured Division in 1990. He went on to be

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the Staff College, Camberley, in 1993 and then established the

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headquar ...

(UK) at Northwood during a tour from 1994 to 1996, before becoming the UK's first Chief of Joint Operations in 1996. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the

1997 Birthday Honours The 1997 Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 1997 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 1997 for New Zealand.New Zealand list: Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingd ...

and retired, aged 56, on 20 June 1999. Wallace was Colonel commandant of the

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations ...

from 1 April 1992 until March 1999, Colonel commandant of the

Royal Green Jackets The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division (the other being The Light Infantry). History The Royal Green Jackets was formed on 1 January 1966 by the amalgama ...

from 1995 to 1998 and Colonel commandant of the

Light Division The Light Division was a light infantry division of the British Army. Its origins lay in "Light Companies" formed during the late 18th century, to move at speed over inhospitable terrain and protect a main force with skirmishing tactics. These ...

from 1998 to 1999. Wallace has been described as a meticulous wordsmith and a stickler for detail. One of his senior colonels, who had served under him in Germany and at the Permanent Joint Headquarters, described him as "A no-nonsense, to the point, agile-thinking and inspiring leader".

Subsequent career and interests

Wallace was Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies, an appointment gained by open competition, from January 2001 until January 2005. In July 1999 he was appointed as a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum and from 2006 to 2008 he held the post of deputy chairman. He was Chairman of the Trustees of The

Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum is situated at Peninsula Barracks in Winchester, England. The museum is one of several regimental museums that form part of Winchester's Military Museums. History The museum brings together the collection ...

from 1999 until October 2015. The widely acclaimed exhibition ''With the Rifles to Waterloo'' will remain as a lasting legacy of his skills as a fund-raiser and project manager. Wallace was also Chairman of the Winchester Military Museums from 2002 to 2016. He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

in 2004. Wallace was also a keen bird-watcher, a hobby which he expanded as his career took him around the world. He had been an accomplished cricketer from his youth and became a single-figure handicap golfer, having a fine record playing in the army golf team on many occasions. He was President of the Army Golf Association from 1995 to 2000. After he retired from the army he was able to develop his interest in military history and become a dedicated and accomplished historian. He had three books published and regularly presented papers on a range of military subjects; these included a talk on one of his ancestors, Lieutenant-General Sir

George Augustus Quentin Lieutenant-General Sir George Augustus Quentin (1760–1851) was a Hanoverian British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Biography George Quentin was born in 1760, and was the eldest son of George Quentin of Göttingen. Quentin ...

, who had fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was a member of the British Commission for Military History.

Family

In 1969 Wallace married Delicia Curtis; they had one son and one daughter. Wallace died in hospital in Basingstoke on 7 January 2016 at the age of 73, from the rare, debilitating, disease '' Amyloidosis''.

Bibliography

* ''A Brief History of The King's Royal Rifle Corps 1755 – 1965'', by Christopher Wallace () 2005 * ''Focus on Courage: the 59 Victoria Crosses of the Royal Green Jackets'', by Christopher Wallace & Ron Cassidy () 2006 * ''Rifles and Kukris: Delhi, 1857'', by Christopher Wallace, () 2007

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Christopher British Army generals Military personnel from Hampshire Royal Green Jackets officers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire 2016 deaths 1943 births Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst People educated at Shrewsbury School Deputy Lieutenants of Hampshire British military historians Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley People from Farnborough, Hampshire Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley