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 ...

Richard Eustace John Gerrard-Wright (9 May 1930 – 12 May 2012) 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

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

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

Royal Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

in 1949. He was deployed to the Suez Canal Zone and to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and then saw action during the Malayan Emergency. He became commanding officer of a battalion of the

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating i ...

and in that role was deployed to

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 ...

during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

. He went on to be commander of 39th Infantry Brigade in 1975, Chief of Staff of I (British) Corps in 1978 and General Officer Commanding Eastern District in 1980. His last appointment was as Director Territorial Army and Cadets at the Ministry of Defence in 1982 before retiring in 1985. He married Susan Young in 1960; they had two sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard-Wright, Richard 1930 births 2012 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Army major generals Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency Royal Anglian Regiment officers