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 David Willison, (25 December 1919 – 24 April 2009) 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 who served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

from 1939 to 1963, after which he served in a series of military intelligence roles until his retirement from the army in 1975. Willison then became

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

British Intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and do ...

until 1978.

Family and private life

Willison was born in

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

, England, on 25 December 1919. Before attending

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

, Willison lived in Egypt, where his father,

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

A. C. Willison, served. Willison was married twice: first, in 1941, to Betty Vernon Bates, with whom he had three children (a son and two daughters);Debrett's People of Today 1994 after Betty's death, he married Trisha Clitherow in 1994.Obituary: Lieutenant General Sir David Willison
The Times, 30 April 2009

Military career

After Wellington College, Willison came first in the army entrance exam and attended the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, passing out top of his year and winning the

Pollock Medal The Pollock Medal is a prize awarded to the best cadet of the season, in commemoration of Sir George Pollock's exploits in Afghanistan, first at the East India Company's Addiscombe Military Seminary, Military Seminary at Addiscombe, and later at the ...

for the highest academic achievement of his term. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1939, and in 1942 he was an instructor at the School of Military Engineering (specialising in

bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...

s). Willison's first active service was briefly at

Sword Beach Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied Fra ...

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mo ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

. He was in command of 17th Field Company, attached to the 3rd Divisional engineers and, during fighting at Bénouville on the evening of D-Day, he was seriously wounded by shrapnel and did not return to service until the following August. The wound caused pain for much of his life. On his return to the 3rd Divisional engineers, Willison took command of 246 Field Company, near

Venray Venray or Venraij (; li, Venroj) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of , with 43,494 inhabitants as o ...

in the Netherlands. In March 1945, during the advance on

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, his company had to reopen a mined road and a demolished bridge through flooded low-lying lands, in preparation for an assault. Working under heavy shelling, he supervised the installation of a bailey bridge and the clearance of mines and obstructions. In particular, he personally made safe a

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

, for which he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. Over the following several postwar years, Willison attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

(where he was judged to be one of the most outstanding students), served as

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

with 1 Indian Infantry Brigade as part of the reoccupation force in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

at HQ

Malaya Command The Malaya Command was a Command (military formation), formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederat ...

, posted to the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in London and took command of 16 Field Company, Royal Engineers, stationed in Egypt. In 1953, he was posted to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to command the Royal Engineers there. While in Berlin, Willison assisted with a clandestine Anglo-American effort to tap a major Russian military telephone cable, by constructing an underground facility (the Russians discovered the security breach a few months later). After a spell from 1955 to 1958 as an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, Willison was posted to

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

where he supported the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

's assistance to the

Sultan of Oman The sultan of the Sultanate of Oman is the monarchical head of state and head of government of Oman. It is the most powerful position in the country. The sultans of Oman are members of the Busaid dynasty, which has been the ruling family of O ...

in the Djebel Akhdar during a pro-

Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced Egyptian ...

rebellion. He subsequently commanded

38 Engineer Regiment 38 may refer to: *38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39 *one of the years 38 BC, AD 38, 1938, 2038 *.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges **.38 Special, a revolver cartridge *'' Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transfor ...

from 1960. This unit was part of the

Strategic reserve A strategic reserve is the reserve of a commodity or items that is held back from normal use by governments, organisations, or businesses in pursuance of a particular strategy or to cope with unexpected events. A document issued by the US Departm ...

, with detachments in several trouble spots; this gave Willison additional international experience. In 1963, Willison was appointed as Colonel MI4 at the War Office with assessments of Middle Eastern issues as his main concern. Key Intelligence appointments followed his acknowledged success at MI4: Brigadier Defence Intelligence in 1967, Assistant Chief of Staff (Intelligence) in

Northern Army Group The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising four Western European Army Corps, during the Cold War as part of NATO's forward defence in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Army Group headquarters was established on ...

in 1970, Director of Service Intelligence in 1971 and finally Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence) in 1972.

Later career

Willison retired from the army in 1975, but stayed within public service. He was immediately appointed as Director-General of Intelligence (equivalent to a

Deputy Under Secretary of State His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which ...

) until retirement in 1978. During this period, the Labour Government of the day was persuaded to increase defence spending and renew the British

nuclear deterrent Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In additi ...

, against official Labour Party policy. During his period in intelligence, Willison built an international reputation for himself. After retirement, Willison became a consultant, first to the

National Westminster Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

and then to County NatWest Investment Bank, until 1991. David Willison died on 24 April 2009.

Assessment

Willison was a highly capable man with a rapid grasp of complex issues and the ability to express them clearly and simply. He was blessed with a good memory and wide breadth of knowledge. His abilities showed themselves during the various professional courses he undertook and he either passed out top or impressed as a brilliant student. He demanded high standards of those around him and his abrupt manner made uncomfortable to subordinates and superiors alike, but he would be loyal to those who achieved such standards and supportive of those afflicted by tragedy.

Honours

Apart from his Military Cross, Willison was appointed OBE in 1958 and knighted in 1973. He assumed the honorary roles of Colonel Commandant, Royal Engineers (1973–1982) and of

Chief Royal Engineer The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army. Origin and development Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 King Charles II appointed S ...

(1977–1982) and

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 1981.

References

Information has been obtained from the following

obituaries An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

: * *

External links

Royal Engineers – Corps Traditions and Customs (sections on the posts of Colonel Commandant and Chief Royal Engineer)
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Willison, David 1919 births Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Royal Engineers officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross British Army generals People from Camberley People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire British Army personnel of World War II Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 2009 deaths Military personnel from Surrey British military personnel of the Dhofar Rebellion Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley