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 ...

Julian Howard Atherden Thompson, (born 7 October 1934) is a

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 no ...

and former

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

officer who commanded 3 Commando Brigade during 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 ...

Early life

Thompson was born on 7 October 1934 to Major A. J. Thompson and Mary Stearns Thompson (née Krause). He was educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governor ...

, an all-boys public school in Dorset.

Military career

Thompson joined the

in 1952. Between 1954 and 1969, he served in 40, 42, 43, 45 Commandos Royal Marines. During the 1960s he was deployed to

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 e ...

for the

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation o ...

. He was promoted to major at the end of 1968, and to lieutenant colonel at the start of 1975. He was appointed commanding officer of

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet. Their barracks are at Norton M ...

in 1975, and commanded it for two and a half years. He was promoted to colonel in mid-1978, and later to brigadier and appointed as commander of 3 Commando Brigade in 1981. Thompson commanded 3 Commando Brigade in the 1982

. 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 ...

, he served as commander of the Training Reserve Forces and Special Forces RM from 1983 to 1986. He retired in 1986.

Later life

In retirement he has written extensively on British military history. His first book, ''No Picnic'' was published in 1985, whilst he was still serving in the Royal Marines. From 1987 to 1997, he was a senior research fellow in "logistics and armed conflict in the modern age" at

King's College, University of London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. He has been a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the Department of War Studies of King's since 1997. Thompson is the Chairman of Veterans for Britain, an organization 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".

Selected works

* * This is a revised version of ''No Picnic'' (1985) * * * * * * * *

Honours and awards

*June 1978: OBE *October 1982: Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)

References

External links

*
Imperial War Museum Interview from 1992
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Julian 1934 births Living people People educated at Sherborne School Royal Marines generals Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War British historians Academics of King's College London Officers of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath British military writers British military historians