CBE
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 ...
(23 December 1944 – 19 March 2020) 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 ...
Pigott was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Pigott RADC and Mollie Pigott, an officer in the
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC; known as ''the QAs'') is the nursing branch of the British Army Medical Services.
History
Although an "official" nursing service was not established until 1881, the corps traces its heritage ...
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
38 Engineer Regiment
38 may refer to:
*38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39
*one of the years 38 BC, AD 38, 1938, 2038
*.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges
**.38 Special, a revolver cartridge
*'' Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transfor ...
at
Ripon
Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...
, in which role he was deployed to
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
in 1976 to build a camp from which local soldiers could defend the area against attack from Guatemala. In 1977 he was deployed to Bradford as Chief Fire Officer, West Yorkshire during the Firemen's Strike and then went on to become military assistant to the Vice-Chief of the General Staff. As a
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. I ...
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 ...
, he became the first Chief of Staff of the ARRC in 1992. He was deployed to
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Република Босна и Херцеговина) was a state in Southeastern Europe, existing from 1992 to 1995. It is the direct lega ...
when the ARRC took the lead in the
United Nations Protection Force
The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. He retired in 2003.
Later life
After retiring from the Armed Forces, Pigott took a position of Independent Member of Steering Board at the Intellectual Property Office.
On 4 December 2009, Pigott gave evidence to
The Iraq Inquiry
The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot) From his evidence, it emerged that he chaired an informal working group in the Ministry of Defence in mid-2002 to explore possibilities for British military involvement in an invasion of Iraq and its possible repercussions. He told the inquiry that his aim was to avoid a poorly planned "off-the-cuff" campaign.
Family
In 1981, he married Felicity Ann Astley-Cooper. They had three children including a daughter, Anna, who married Simon Hervé Marie Ghislain, Prince de Merode, son of Léonel Amaury Marie Ghislain, Prince de Merode, in September 2010.