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 th ...

Jonathon Peter Riley, (born 16 January 1955) is a retired

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 Gurkha ...

officer and military historian.

Military career

Riley joined the

as an officer cadet in 1971, and was commissioned into the

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

in 1974. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 9 March 1976, 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, having 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, whic ...

, in 1987, he was promoted 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 indicato ...

at the end of the year. During this time he saw active service in

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

. 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 colon ...

in 1993, Riley undertook a tour as an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, that year. He was deployed as

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 1st Battalion the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

to the Muslim enclave of

Goražde Goražde ( cyrl, Горажде, ) is a city and the administrative center of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Drina river. As of 2 ...

in 1995 under a mandate to ensure the Serbs did not violate the

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 N ...

ultimatum. The

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...

attacked the town without warning, capturing 33 soldiers under Riley's command and several hundred other fellow United Nations peacekeepers in May. Having halted the initial Serb attack, the battalion handed over the defence of the enclave to the Bosnian 81st Division. During the siege that followed, protocol was broken when first the Director of Military Operations, then the Chief of the General Staff and finally Prime Minister John Major telephoned Riley to be briefed on the situation. The enclave was successfully defended and unlike

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby ...

and Zepa it never fell to the Serbs; the 33 Fusiliers and fellow UN peacekeepers were later rescued safely. Riley 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, ty ...

for gallantry and distinguished services in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia in 1996, and promoted to full

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in July 1997. Promoted to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

on 31 December 1998, Riley became commander of the 1st Mechanised Brigade in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

in 1999 and commander of the UK Joint Task Force in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

in 2000. He was awarded the

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service The King's Commendation for Valuable Service is a British military award for meritorious service in an operational theatre. It was established in 1994, when the award of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct and the Queen's Commendation for ...

for his service in Sierra Leone. He became Deputy Commandant of the Staff College and Director of the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2001. Riley was deployed as Deputy Commanding General of the Coalition Military Advisory and Training Team in Iraq in May 2003 and then became Commanding General Multi-National Division (South East), Iraq and GOC British Forces in November 2004 with promotion 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 ...

. In 2005, he was awarded the United States'

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight u ...

for his service in Iraq. Riley served as Colonel of the

, from 2006 to 2007. On 18 December 2007, he was promoted to the rank of

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 th ...

and appointed deputy commander of the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 pursua ...

in Afghanistan. He was awarded the

NATO Meritorious Service Medal The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium. Ba ...

by the Secretary-General of

and, having been appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregiv ...

in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

, he transferred to the reserve on 15 September 2009. On 14 December 2009, Riley gave evidence to The Iraq Inquiry, in which he stated that British troops had not expected to be faced with an insurgency and also defended the decision to disband the Iraqi Army after the invasion. Then, in February 2011, he gave evidence at the trial of

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-cyr, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Bosnian Serb politician, psychiatrist and poet. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tr ...

at the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

on the incident in May 1995 when his troops had been held in captivity.

Later life

Riley was appointed Director General and Master of the

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Originally an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, originally housed in the Tower of London from ...

, Britain's national collection of arms and armour, early in September 2009. Subsequently, he was appointed Visiting Professor in War Studies at King's College London. Riley joined the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

(UKIP) in 2012. He said he "believed passionately that we had to regain our national sovereignty, the control of our laws and our borders, and escape the unelected, unaccountable tyranny of the EU Commission." He later left the party, arguing it had "lost its way" and stating that he disagreed with the views of those who had taken charge at the time. Riley is on the advisory board of Veterans for Britain, an organisation with the aim "to put forward the Defence and Security arguments for the UK to vote to leave the European Union" and following the referendum to "Support Her Majesty's Government in the task of restoring full sovereign control to all aspects of the defence of the Realm in accordance with that mandate of the people." On 19 January 2021, Riley re-joined UKIP, and was selected as the lead candidate for UKIP for the Mid and West Wales region of the

Senedd The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gov ...

for the 2021 election. He was not elected to the Senedd, with UKIP getting 1.57% of this region's vote, having lost 86% of its 2016 support. As at 14 February 2022, he still appeared as a Spokesperson for UKIP and as at 9 August 2022 in the same capacity on the official UKIP Veterans webpage.

Works

Riley has written and edited a number of books on military history, including: * * * * ''The Monitor Mission in the Balkans'' (1992) * ''Soldiers of the Queen: The History of the Queen's Regiment 1966–1992'' (1993) * ''White Dragon: The Royal Welch Fusiliers in Bosnia'' (editor) (1995) * ''Napoleon and the World War of 1813'' (2000) * ''Regimental Records of The Royal Welch Fusiliers, Vol. VI 1945–1969 and Vol. VII 1970–2000'' (2001) * ''The Life and Campaigns of General Hughie Stockwell: From Norway, Through Burma, to Suez'' (2007) * ''Napoleon as a General: Command from the Battlefield to Grand Strategy'' (2007) * ''That Astonishing Infantry: The History of the Royal Welch Fusiliers 1689–2006'' (2008) ; second edition 2017 * *; second edition 2021 *; second edition 2012 * *; second edition 2015; paperback edition 2017 * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

generalship.org
Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley CB DSO PhD MA
Lecture
on ''Decisive Battles'' at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its sp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Jonathon 1955 births Royal Welch Fusiliers officers Alumni of University College London British Army generals Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service Officers of the Legion of Merit Living people British Army personnel of the Iraq War Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) British military historians Queen's Regiment officers British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People educated at Kingston Grammar School Historians of the Napoleonic Wars Directors of museums in the United Kingdom UK Independence Party politicians Academics of the Staff College, Camberley