General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Anthony Heritage Farrar-Hockley (8 April 1924 – 11 March 2006), nicknamed Farrar the Para, 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 a military historian who fought in a number of British conflicts. He held a number of senior commands, ending his career as Commander-in-Chief of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Allied Forces Northern Europe Allied Forces Northern Europe (AFNORTH) was the northern Major Subordinate Command of NATO's Allied Command Europe (ACE), located at Kolsås outside Oslo. In the case of war with the Soviet Union, AFNORTH would assume supreme command of all Allie ...

. Throughout his four decades of army life, he spoke plainly, and both before and after his retirement in 1982 wrote on the conflicts he had experienced and 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 ...

Personal life

Anthony Farrar-Hockley was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England, on 8 April 1924, the son of Arthur Farrar-Hockley, a journalist, and Agnes Beatrice (née Griffin).''The Telegraph'' ''Obituary:Gen Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley''. 14 March 2006.
/ref> He was educated at

Exeter School Exeter School is an independent co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. In 2019, there were around 200 pupils in the Junior School and 700 in the Senior School. History The School traces its ...

, and at the age of 15 he ran away at the start of the

and enlisted in the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

, a

line infantry Line infantry was the type of infantry that composed the basis of European land armies from the late 17th century to the mid-19th century. Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus are generally regarded as its pioneers, while Turenne and Monte ...

regiment of the

. The fact that he was underage was soon discovered and he was discharged and had to wait to be re-enlisted in 1941. He was promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

while still aged 17 and only 18 when he was commissioned into the

Wiltshire Regiment The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. The ...

, before transferring to the Parachute Regiment in November 1942. He fought with the

6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion The 6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was created in 1942 by the conversion of the 10th (Merionethshire a ...

, part of the 2nd Parachute Brigade, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

. Later he won the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

(MC) in 1944 while fighting the communist rebellion in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

during the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

. On 7 July 1945 in St Peter's Church, Ealing, Farrar-Hockley married Margaret Bernadette Wells with whom he had three sons (two of whom survive). His first wife died in 1981 and he married Linda Wood in 1983. Following in father's footsteps his elder son Charles Dair Farrar-Hockley also won an MC fighting with the Parachute Regiment in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

. During his mid-career Farrar-Hockley was carrying out research and publishing. He established a reputation as an authority on the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, publishing ''The Somme'' (1964) and ''Death of an Army'' (1968). By way of ''sabbatical'' during his military career he spent time (1968–1970) at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

as a Defence Fellow, working on a research project into the social effects of National Service in Britain and publishing two other books. He gained a

BLitt Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second undergraduate university degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been t ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

.''The Times''. ''Obituary: General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley''
/ref>

Military career

At the outbreak of the

in September 1939, at the age of 15, Farrar-Hockley ran away from school and enlisted in the ranks with the

. After the discovery of his age he was discharged. In 1941 he enlisted again and was posted to the 70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion, Glosters. In November 1942 he was commissioned and posted to the new 1st Airborne Division seeing action with the Parachute Regiment in Italy, France and Greece. He was still only 20 in 1944 when he was given command of a company in the

and later won a

in Greece whilst resisting the communist rebellion in Athens. After post-war service with the

, having gained a permanent commission in that regiment in April 1945, 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 ...

during the

Palestine Emergency A successful paramilitary campaign was carried out by Zionist underground groups against British rule in Mandatory Palestine from 1944 to 1948. The tensions between the Zionist underground and the British mandatory authorities rose from 1938 an ...

, Farrar-Hockley fought in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, still with the Glosters as adjutant. He provided inspiring leadership during the

Battle of the Imjin River The Battle of the Imjin River ( fil, Labanan sa Ilog Imjin), also known as the Battle of Solma-ri ( ko, 설마리 전투) or Battle of Gloster Hill () in South Korea, or as Battle of Xuemali () in China, took place 22–25 April 1951 during t ...

and fight for Hill 235. "A" Company had undergone lengthy attack, taken severe officer casualties and was struggling. Farrar-Hockley volunteered to reinforce the company and his presence had an immediate effect. The company were able to retrench and hold on for some time. Nevertheless, they became surrounded, ran out of ammunition, and after hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets were ordered to withdraw. Farrar-Hockley organised an orderly withdrawal but as one of the last to leave the position he was captured. The Glosters became known as the Glorious Glosters and he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

, although he was a

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 ...

and the DSO was usually reserved for more senior ranks. His citation stated: Farrar-Hockley spent two years as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

. 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 ...

for his conduct. After active service in the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency ( gr, Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–59), also known as the Greek Cypriot War of Independence or Cypriot War of Independence, was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between November 1 ...

(1956),

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

(1956) and

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 ...

(1958), he spent some time at

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 ...

as chief instructor (1959–1961) In 1962 Farrar-Hockley took command of 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment in

the Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

. While there possibly the greatest feat of arms of his career took place in 1964 during the

Aden Emergency The Aden Emergency, also known as the Radfan Uprising (), was an armed rebellion by NLF and FLOSY during the Cold War against the Federation of South Arabia, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, which now forms part of Yemen. Partly inspire ...

when his battalion captured a stronghold held by nationalist and tribesmen in the

Radfan Radfan or the Radfan Hills is a region of the Republic of Yemen. In the 1960s, the area was part of a British protectorate of Dhala (a member of the Federation of South Arabia) and was the site of intense fighting during the Aden Emergency. In 1 ...

mountains of north of

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. ...

at Wadi Dhubsan. For this action Farrar-Hockley was awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his DSO. In 1965 Farrar-Hockley was posted as Chief of Staff to the Director of Operations in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

in the Far East.

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

under President Sukarno was confronting

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Secret and unattributable cross-border operations which Farrar-Hockley helped to organise on Indonesian territory helped bring the ill-judged military confrontation to an end. After commanding (1966–1968) the 16th Parachute Brigade and his fellowship at

(1968–1970), Farrar-Hockley was promoted to

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 ...

and appointed as the first Commander Land Forces in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

where he was the first senior officer to acknowledge publicly that the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

was behind the violence. After this he commanded the 4th Division in

BAOR There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

(1971–1973) before returning to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

where he was put in charge of Combat Development for the Army. After a period as General Officer Commanding South East District (1977–1979), Farrar-Hockley was appointed commander in chief of Nato's

. He held this appointment until his retirement from the army in 1982.

Later life

Other positions held by Farrar-Hockley included:

ADC General Aide-de-camp general is a senior honorary appointment for General (United Kingdom), generals in the British Army. The recipient is appointed as an aide-de-camp general to the head of state, currently King Charles III. They are entitled to the post-n ...

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

(1981–1983), Colonel-Commandant of the

Prince of Wales' Division The Prince of Wales's Division was a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all land force units in the West of England and Wales. It merged with the Scottish Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish D ...

(1974–1980) and of the Parachute Regiment (1977–1983). He was colonel of his Gloucestershire Regiment 1978–1984. During his retirement Farrar-Hockley carried out historical research and published campaign histories and biographies, he acted as a consultant and was a frequent pundit in the newspapers and on television and radio. He commanded the French at Waterloo in an episode of the brief TV series 'A Game of War' in 1997. Farrar-Hockley is known to have been a target for the IRA after his name was found on an hitlist in the 1980s. In 1990, his 5-year-old grandson found a bomb attached to a hose in his garden. The bomb failed to explode. Farrar-Hockley declared to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' that a secret arms network was established in Britain after the war, but refused to say if it still existed. He aroused controversy in 1983 when he became involved trying to organise a campaign for a new home guard against possible Soviet invasion and in 1990, following Italian Prime minister

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democra ...

's October 1990 revelations concerning

Operation Gladio Operation Gladio is the codename for clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (alliance), Western Union (WU), and subsequently by NATO and the CIA, in collaboration with several European Int ...

, a NATO stay-behind network, he revealed that the armed anti-communist secret resistance network across western European had involved Britain."Secret Italian Unit 'trained in Britain'"
in ''

'', 17 November 1990 His honours included: Mentioned in despatches 1943, MC 1944, DSO 1953, Mentioned in despatches 1954,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

1957, DSO bar 1964, KCB 1977, GBE 1982.

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 ...

2006.

Works

From British Library catalogue (October 2006).

By himself

* 1954. ''The Edge of the Sword''. London: Frederick Muller. (later edition ). * 1959. ''True Book about the Second World War''. London: Frederick Muller: London. * 1966. ''The Somme''. London: Pan. (later edition ). * 1967. ''Death of an army''. London : Barker. (later edition ). * 1969. ''The war in the desert''. London: Faber & Faber. . * 1970. ''Airborne carpet: Operation Market Garden''. London: Macdonald & Co. . * 1972. ''Arnhem : parachutisten vallen uit de hemel''. Antwerpen : Standaard. * 1975. ''Goughie. The life of General Sir Hubert Gough''. London: Hart-Davis, MacGibbon. . * 1976. ''Infantry tactics''. London: Almark Publishing. * 1988. ''Opening rounds: lessons of military history 1918–1988''. London: Deutsch. . * 1990. ''The British part in the Korean War: Vol.1, A distant obligation''. London: HMSO. . * 1994. ''The army in the air: the history of the Army Air Corps''. Far Thrupp, Stroud: A. Sutton Publishing. . * 1995. ''The British part in the Korean War: Vol 2, An honourable discharge''. London: HMSO. . * to be published 2007. ''MacArthur (Great Commanders S.)''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

With others

*Brown, Neville and Farrar-Hockley, Anthony. (1985). ''Nuclear first use''. Buchan & Enright. *Farrar-Hockley, Anthony chapter in: Daniell, David S. (2005). ''Cap of honour: the 300 years of the Gloucestershire Regiment''. Stroud: Sutton. . *Hamilton, Ian S. M. (ed. Farrar-Hockley, Anthony). (1957). ''The Commander''. London: Hollis & Carter.

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939–1945
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar-Hockley, Anthony 1924 births 2006 deaths Burials in Oxfordshire Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford British Army generals British Army personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation British Army personnel of the Korean War British Army personnel of World War II British military personnel of the Aden Emergency British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency British military personnel of the Suez Crisis British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) British military writers British Parachute Regiment officers British prisoners of war in the Korean War Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Gloucestershire Regiment officers Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Joint Services Command and Staff College alumni Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Exeter School People from Coventry People from Moulsford Recipients of the Military Cross Wiltshire Regiment officers Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Military personnel from Warwickshire