General Sir Peter Anthony Wall, (born 10 July 1955) is a retired British Army officer who served as the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, until September 2014. Wall had previously been the Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces from August 2009 to September 2010. He succeeded General Sir David Richards as Chief of the General Staff in September 2010, the latter going on a month later to be Chief of the Defence Staff.

Early life and education

Born in Ipswich,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, the son of Dorothy Margaret () and John Ramsay Wall, Wall was educated at Whitgift School and Selwyn College, Cambridge.''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

2010'',

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

, 2010,

Military career

Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Celle Abschied Rede

Wall graduated from 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 ...

and was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in April 1974 with his commission being confirmed in December 1974, with effect from 9 March the same year. After a short period of military duties, Wall studied engineering at University of Cambridge, before joining airborne forces and going on to serve with the Royal Engineers in Belize and

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. Wall was promoted 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 9 September 1980 and to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 30 September 1987. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the

5th Airborne Brigade Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

in 1988, before commanding 9 Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers from 1990. Promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

on 30 June 1992, he was appointed Commanding Officer of 32 Engineer Regiment in Germany in 1994, and appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the

1994 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday. Publication dates vary from year to year. Most are published in supplements to the ''London Gazette'' and many are formally conferred by the monarch (or ...

. He was deployed to the Former Republic of Yugoslavia in Spring 1996, promoted to colonel on 30 June and awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in November. He was then promoted to brigadier on 31 December 1998 with seniority from 30 June 1998, before assuming command of

24 Airmobile Brigade 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

in 1999. Wall was responsible for converting the formation into

16 Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...

later that year.

High command

In 2001, Wall became Chief of Joint Force Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters Northwood, and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the

2002 New Year Honours New Years' Honours are announced on or around the date of the New Year in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supplements to the London Ga ...

. Wall went on to serve as Chief of Staff of the National Contingent HQ in Qatar, overseeing UK operations in Iraq, from January 2003. In May 2003, Wall assumed the appointment of General Officer Commanding

1st (UK) Armoured Division The 1st (United Kingdom) Division, formerly known as the 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division and the 1st Division, is a division of the British Army. Divisional history (1809–1959) The 1st Division was formed following the disbandment of ...

with the substantive rank of major general, in which capacity he was responsible for security in Basra in Iraq. In 2005, he became Deputy Chief of Joint Operations at the Permanent Joint Headquarters Northwood and, on 1 August 2007, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments) and promoted to lieutenant general. Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the

2009 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2009 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

, Wall succeeded General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue as Chief Royal Engineer on 10 May 2009 before taking up the post of Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces and receiving promotion to the substantive rank of general on 17 July 2009. He was also appointed the aide-de-camp general to Queen Elizabeth II on 30 October 2009. Gen Sir Peter Wall & Gen John Allen

On 6 January 2010, Wall gave evidence to the

Iraq Inquiry The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)Basra Palace and in May 2010, Wall was listed amongst the top 172 government servants that earn more than the Prime Minister, with a salary of £160–165,000, excluding his non-contributory final salary pension. Then on 29 July 2010, Wall was named as the next Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army. On 15 September 2010 Wall took over the post from General Sir David Richards who became Chief of the Defence Staff in late October 2010. On 24 June 2011, it was reported that Wall, who had publicly questioned Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

's handling of the conflict in Afghanistan, would – in a major defence reorganisation that would also affect the other service chiefs – lose his position on the Defence Board, the highest non-ministerial Ministry of Defence committee, which makes decision on all aspects of military policy. The changes took effect on 1 November 2011. Amidst ministerial, media and political pressure from both sides of the House,bbc.co.uk: "Emma Barnett and BBC Radio 4 – Women at War"
8 October 2013
8 October 2013 Wall told an army magazine in April 2014 that lifting the ban on women serving in combat units was "something we need to be considering seriously". It came to light that, under European law, the policy of preventing female soldiers from applying for certain jobs in the army was to be reviewed by 2018, and that the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Israel all allowed women to serve in combat units. '' The Times'' had reported that his main motivation for changing this rule was showing potential female recruits that the army was an equal opportunities employer: Wall was appointed Colonel Commandant of the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

in 2002, and Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Royal Engineers in November 2003. He was appointed a

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

. From April 2012 until August 2016 Wall served as the Colonel Commandant of the

Brigade of Gurkhas The Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective name which refers to all the units in the British Army that are composed of Nepalese Gurkha soldiers. The brigade draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army ...

. Since leaving the army, Wall co-founded and is Chief Executive of a leadership and change consultancy, Amicus Limited.

Personal life

In 1980 Wall married Fiona Anne Simpson; they have two sons. He lists his interests as sports. He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Somerset on 2 February 2015. This gave him the Post Nominal Letters "DL" for Life.

References

External links

Operation Telic Biography
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Peter 1955 births Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge British Army generals British Army personnel of the Iraq War British military leaders of the Iraq War Chiefs of the General Staff (United Kingdom) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Somerset Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Living people People educated at Whitgift School Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service Royal Engineers officers Military personnel from Ipswich