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 Michael Stuart Gray, (3 May 1932 – 13 March 2011) was a senior

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. He served as General Officer Commanding South East District from 1985 to 1988, Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment from 1990 to 1993, and Lieutenant of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

from 1995 to 1998.

Early life and family

Gray's father, Lieutenant Frank Gray, was killed in action while serving with the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

in 1940. He was educated at Beverley Grammar School, Christ's Hospital, Horsham and at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

. In 1958 Gray married Juliette Noon, with whom he was to have two sons and one daughter.

Military career

Gray enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1950. He was commissioned into the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1952 and served in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

for two years during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

. He transferred to the Parachute Regiment in 1955 and served in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Suez Canal Zone The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

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. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Gray commanded the

1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (1 PARA), is a battalion of the British Army's Parachute Regiment. Along with various other regiments and corps from across the British Armed Forces, it is part of Special Forces Support Group. A specia ...

from 1969 to 1971. He was appointed an

Officer 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 ...

in 1970. He was Chief of Staff of 1st Armoured Division, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) from 1973 to 1975 before attending the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in 1976. He was the last commander of the

16th Parachute Brigade The 16th Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade of the British Army. It can trace its formation to February 1948, when the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade left the 6th Airborne Division and moved to Germany, becoming part of the Brit ...

in 1977. Gray was Head of British Army Staff and Military Attache in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and Military Advisor to the

Governor of Bermuda The Governor of Bermuda (fully the ''Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)'') is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this a ...

from 1979 to 1981. He was General Officer Commanding (GOC)

South West District South West Delhi is one of the eleven administrative districts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Kapashera serves as the administrative headquarters of South West Delhi. South West Delhi is bounded by the districts of West De ...

, which included command of the United Kingdom Mobile Force, from 1981 to 1984. He was Chief of Staff, BAOR at Rheindahlen from 1984 to 1985. Gray was promoted to

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 ...

in 1985 and was GOC South East District and Commander of Joint Forces HQ at Aldershot. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1986, and retired from the army in 1988. Gray was Honorary Colonel of 10th Parachute Battalion from 1984 to 1988 and Deputy Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment from 1986 to 1990. He was Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment from 1990 to 1993.

Later life

In retirement Gray was Chief executive of Rainford Developments from 1990 to 1994. He was awarded the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

in 1994. He was Lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1995 to 1998 and Deputy Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1997. He also became Chairman of the Airborne Assault Normandy Trust, which seeks to preserve the history of 6th Airborne Division in Normandy, in 1972. He had a leading role in the founding of a museum at

Pegasus Bridge Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the cent ...

and in the restoration of the Merville Battery site. Gray lived in Pocklington, Yorkshire. He died on 13 March 2011 at York District Hospital.

References

External links

Imperial War Museum Interview
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Michael 1932 births 2011 deaths Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies British Army lieutenant generals Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst People educated at Christ's Hospital East Yorkshire Regiment officers British Parachute Regiment officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency Deputy Lieutenants of the West Riding of Yorkshire Recipients of the Legion of Honour Lieutenants of the Tower of London British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency People educated at Beverley Grammar School Military personnel from Yorkshire Royal Artillery soldiers British military attachés