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 ...

Louis Patrick Lillywhite, (born 23 February 1948) is a retired

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 ...

physician and officer. He was Surgeon-General of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

from 2006 until December 2009. Between January 2017 and January 2022, he served as the first Master-General of the

Army Medical Services The Army Medical Services (AMS) is the organisation responsible for administering the corps that deliver medical, veterinary, dental and nursing services in the British Army. It is headquartered at the former Staff College, Camberley, near the ...

Early life

Born to William Henry Lillywhite and Annie Kate (née Vesey), Louis Lillywhite attended King Edward VI School in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

and the

University of Wales College of Medicine The Cardiff University School of Medicine ( cy, Ysgol Feddygaeth Prifysgol Caerdydd) is the medical school of Cardiff University and is located in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Founded in 1893 as part of the University College of South Wales and Monmou ...

and the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

Military career

Lillywhite was commissioned on 1 October 1968 as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

(on probation). He was promoted to lieutenant on 7 July 1971 and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 2 August 1972. He served as a

medical officer A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in 1991, where he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. He was Surgeon-General of the

from 2006 until December 2009. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of St John in 2007 and became an Honorary Member of the Society of Medical Consultants to the Armed Forces (of the USA) in 2009 and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2010. Lillywhite was appointed

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 ...

(MBE) in 1984, and

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB) in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Later life

In retirement, he became a member of the Bevan Commission (Wales) and a Senior Consulting Fellow at the Centre on Global Health Security of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House. He was the Chief Medical Officer of St John Ambulance from 2010 - 2016, becoming a Commander of the Order of St John in 2016

References

External links

Free Library info site

MOD info. re Lillywhite
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lillywhite, Louis 1948 births Living people British Army lieutenant generals Royal Army Medical Corps officers English Roman Catholics Officers of the Order of St John Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Alumni of the University of Wales Companions of the Order of the Bath British Army personnel of the Gulf War Surgeons-General of the British Armed Forces People from Lichfield People educated at King Edward VI School, Lichfield