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 ...

Lennox Alexander Hawkins Napier (28 June 1928 – 21 July 2020) 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

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Napier was commissioned into the

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. I ...

in 1946.'' Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010, He saw action in Malaya and was recognised with the award of 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 ...

in December 1957 during the Malayan Emergency. He became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers in 1967 and commanding officer of the 1st Battalion

Royal Regiment of Wales The Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was formed in 1969 by the amalgamation of the South Wales Borderers and the Welch Regiment. The 1st Battalion, ...

in 1969. He went on to be commander of the

Berlin Infantry Brigade The Berlin Infantry Brigade was a British Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. T ...

in 1974, Divisional Brigadier for the

Prince of Wales' Division The Prince of Wales's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all land force units in the West of England and Wales. It merged with the Scottish Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish D ...

in 1976 and General Officer Commanding

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 1980 before retiring in 1983. In 1959 he married Jennifer Dawn Wilson; they had one son and two daughters. In retirement he was chairman of the Central Rail Users' Consultative Committee. He died on 21 July 2020 at the age of 92.

References

British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency Companions of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross Deputy Lieutenants of Gwent High Sheriffs of Gwent South Wales Borderers officers Royal Regiment of Wales officers 1928 births 2020 deaths {{British-Army-bio-stub