Major-General James Doiran Lunt CBE (1917–2001) was a senior British Army officer and

military historian Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

. He was the author of ''Glubb Pasha'' (1984), ''Hussein of Jordan'' (1989) and ''Jai Sixth!'' (1994), a history of the 6th Gurkha Rifles.

Biography

Lunt was born in Liverpool and educated at

King William's College King William's College (nicknamed KWC or King Bill's; gv, Colleish Ree Illiam) is an independent school for pupils aged 3 to 18, located near Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Headmasters' and ...

, Isle of Man and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Lunt was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment and was posted to Multan, India, later serving in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. He transferred to the 4th Battalion, the Burma Rifles in 1939. He served in the Far East during the Second World War, taking part in the retreat from Burma in 1942. He later attended the Indian Military Academy at

Dehra Dun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...

. Lunt served with the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers from 1949 to 1952 which included service in Egypt. He commanded an Arab armoured car regiment in Jordan from 1952 to 1955. Lunt later commanded his former regiment, the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers, at Catterick, Yorkshire, at that time a training regiment. Lunt took over command of the Federal Regular Army in

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in 1961 and remained in command to 1964. He served at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

to 1966 when he was appointed defence adviser to the British High Commissioner of India. He was Chief of Staff of Contingency Planning at HQ SHAPE from 1969. Lunt's final military appointment was Vice- Adjutant General of the British Army from 1971 to 1973. He retired from the British Army in August 1973. Lunt was colonel commandant of the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers from 1975 to 1980. He was Domestic Bursar of Wadham College, University of Oxford, from 1973 to 1983. He was the author of biographies and books on military history including ''Glubb Pasha'' (1984), ''A Hell of a Licking: Retreat from Burma, 1941-42'' (1986), ''Hussein of Jordan'' (1989), ''Scarlet Lancers: The story of the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers 1689–1992'' (1993) and ''Jai Sixth!'' (1994), a history of the 6th Gurkha Rifles. He was awarded the OBE in 1958 and CBE in 1964.

References

* Obituary, ''The Times'', 5 October 2001 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunt, James 1917 births 2001 deaths People educated at King William's College Duke of Wellington's Regiment officers 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers officers British Army major generals British military historians Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Liverpool Indian Military Academy alumni British Army personnel of World War II Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst