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 ...

Patrick Guy Brooking (4 April 193722 January 2014) 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 who served as commandant of the British Sector in Berlin.

Early life

Brooking was born on 4 April 1937. He was educated at Charterhouse School, a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

boarding school.

Military career

As part of

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, Brooking was commissioned into the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the ...

as a second lieutenant on 23 June 1956. On 4 April 1958, he transferred to the

5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. It served in the Second World ...

and 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 4 April 1964, he was promoted to captain. Having attended the Staff College, Camberley, he was promoted to major on 31 December 1969. He served with 39th Brigade 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 Kingdom ...

from 1974 to 1975 when he became commanding officer of his regiment.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He became an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, in 1978, Chief of Staff of 4th Armoured Division in 1979 and commander of 33rd Armoured Brigade in 1982. He was appointed assistant chief of staff for UK Land Forces in 1984 and commandant of the British Sector in Berlin in 1985. Finally he became director-general of Army Manning & Recruiting in 1989. He retired in 1990.

Later life

In retirement, Brooking became chairman of the

British-German Association The British-German Association (BGA) is a nonprofit, membership organisation based in London, UK. Its mission is to promote understanding and forge links between Britain and Germany. Background Founded in 1951, the BGA is currently chaired by ...

, a not-for-profit organisation devoted to forging links between the two countries. He also became deputy lieutenant of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, and served as Master of the

Worshipful Company of Broderers The Worshipful Company of Broderers is one of the livery companies of the City of London. Broderers were workers in embroidery; the organization of Broderers existed in at least 1376, and was officially incorporated by a royal charter in 1561. A ...

from 2003 to 2004. Brooking died on 22 January 2014 at the age of 76.

Personal life

In 1964 he married Pamala Mary Walford: they went on to have one son and one daughter. He was known as the 'Singing General' for his involvement in

choral music A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

. While stationed in Germany, he sang with the Berlin Philharmonic Choir.

Honours and decorations

On 25 March 1975, he was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) 'in recognition of distinguished services in Northern Ireland during the period 1 August 1974 to 31 October 1974'. In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB). In the 1997

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, he was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) 'for services to UK-German relations in Berlin'. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the

on 22 March 1991, transferring on 1 August 1992 following the amalgamation of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards to become the first Honorary Colonel of the resultant

Royal Dragoon Guards The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Based in Battlesbury Bar ...

. On 3 February 1997, he became deputy lieutenant (DL) of the County of Wiltshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooking, Patrick 1937 births 2014 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Members of the Order of the British Empire 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards officers Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Deputy Lieutenants of Wiltshire Royal Armoured Corps officers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin