Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Fergus Alan Humphrey Ling, (1914 – 7 May 1995) 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.

Military career

Educated at

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, Ling was commissioned into the

Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...

in December 1934. He commanded the 2/5th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) at the crossing of the River Garigliano and the battles of the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

in 1944. After the war, he became commanding officer of the 5th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) in 1954, commander of 148th Infantry Brigade in December 1958 and Deputy Adjutant General of the

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 a ...

in December 1961. He went on to be General Officer Commanding 54th (East Anglian) Division/District of the Territorial Army in May 1965 and GOC Eastern District in 1967 before he retired in February 1969. He was honorary colonel of the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the arm ...

from 1973 to 1977. In retirement he managed a successful appeal on behalf of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

to raise funds to acquire the Island of

Lundy Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...

from the

Harman family Harman may refer to: People * Harman (surname) Places * Harman, Australian Capital Territory * Hărman, Romania * Harman, West Virginia * Harmans, Maryland * Harman, Virginia * Harman's Cross, Dorset, England Other uses * Harman Interna ...

Family

In 1940, he married Sheelah Sarel; they had two sons and three daughters.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Fergus 1914 births 1995 deaths British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Queen's Royal Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War II Deputy Lieutenants of Surrey People educated at Stowe School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst