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 colonel. ...

Sir Julian Tolver Paget, 4th Baronet, (11 July 1921 – 25 September 2016) 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 and

military historian Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

who was the author of many books.

Early life

He was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and was the eldest son of General Sir Bernard Paget. He was educated at Radley College,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and read medicine at Christ Church College,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Military career

Paget was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in March 1940 and from August 1942 served with the 5th Battalion, Coldstream Guards, part of the

Guards Armoured Division The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was created in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1941 during the Second World War from elements of the Guards units, the Grenadier G ...

. He served in NW Europe during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, including in the battle for

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, in the Liberation of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and in the attempt to reach the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem in September 1944. At the end of the War he was at

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

, northern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. His younger brother Lieutenant Tony Paget DSO served with the 1st Battalion,

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

(the 43rd) and was killed during the

Battle of the Reichswald A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in March 1945. Following the Second World War he served in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

with 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards. He attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

in 1950. He also served at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

, in

Washington DC ) , 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 in

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. ...

. Paget was 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 ...

and commanded the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in

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

from 1960 to 1962, taking large parties of guardsmen up Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and Kaiser Wilhelm's Peak. He commanded the Queen's Birthday Parade in June 1962, before being posted as the head of the security secretariat at Aden. In 1967 he published his account of the fighting ''Counter-Insurgency campaigning'' in both Britain and America. When he retired from the Army in 1969, ''Last Post Aden, 1964-7'' described the campaign and withdrawal from the former British colony.

Military historian

Paget joined a Public relations consultancy on leaving the army, and settled down to write more military history. In 1971 he was appointed editor of ''

The Guards Magazine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'', where he worked until 1993. Works followed in rapid succession: ''The Story of the Guards'' (1976), ''The Pageantry of Britain'' (1979), and ''Wellington's Peninsula War'' (1990) a huge work that took years of research and study to complete, which was shortly followed by a history of the greatest battle, ''Hougoument: The Key to Victory at Waterloo'' (1992). He edited ''Second to None The History of the Coldstream Guards (1650-2000)'' (2000) and his final book was a biography of his father: ''The Crusading General: The Life of General Sir Bernard Paget GCB DSO MC'' (2008), commander of Home Forces solely responsible to Churchill for the defence of Britain during the dark days of 1940. He led battlefield tours specialising in the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, the Peninsula War, the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and the Gallipoli Campaign. He was a

Gentleman Usher Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders. Gentlemen Ushers as servants Historical Gentlemen Ushers were originally a class of servants fou ...

to the Queen from 1971 to 1991. Paget was chief usher at the wedding of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

in 1981 and also at the wedding of the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

in 1986. He inherited the title 4th Baronet from his Uncle Sir James Paget, 3rd Baronet in 1972 and was appointed

CVO CVO may refer to: Science and technology * Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington, US * Chief veterinary officer, the head of a veterinary authority * Circumventricular organs, positioned around the ventricular system of the brain * Co ...

in 1984. For many years he was involved with the Paget Association, who research Paget's disease, discovered by his famous ancestor James Paget. Aged 92 he was asked to a celebration at James Paget University Hospital in Great Yarmouth marking the bicentenary of James Paget's birth. The old soldier died of septicaemia at the age of 95. He had married in 1954, an American Diana Frances, daughter of Frederick Farmer, whom he met while working in the Pentagon. They had a son and a daughter. They lived in Lymington,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, before Diana died in 2004. Daughter, Olivia had a distinguished career at the Foreign Office before retiring in 2016. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Sir Henry Paget, 5th Baronet, a merchant banker with

St James's Place St James's Place is a street in the St James's district of London near Green Park. It was first developed around 1694, the historian John Strype describing it in 1720 as a "good Street ... which receiveth a fresh Air out of the Park; the Houses ...

, wealth management company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paget, Sir Julian Tolver, 4th Baronet 1921 births 2016 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British Army personnel of World War II British military historians British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency Coldstream Guards officers Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People educated at Radley College Military personnel from London