Sir Bruce Greatbatch, (10 June 1917 – 20 July 1989) was a British

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

officer and soldier who concluded his career as Governor of the Seychelles from 1969 to 1973.

Early life

Greatbatch was born on 10 June 1917, the son of W. T. Greatbatch. He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

and

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

."Greatbatch, Sir Bruce, (10 June 1917 – 20 July 1989)"
'' Who's Who & Who Was Who'', published online 1 December 2007, accessed 4 December 2023

CV

Education * 1931 to 1936 Malvern College * 1936 to 1940 Brasenose College, Oxford * Honours degree in Modern History. Postgraduate Colonial Service Course. Career * 1939 Appointed

–

Northern Nigeria Northern Nigeria (or Arewa, Arewancin Nijeriya) was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962, it acquired t ...

* 1940 Posted To Northern Nigeria * 1940-1945 War Service -

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the British West Africa, West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Sierra Leone ...

ield Artillery*

Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

Mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) 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 of t ...

. Rank -

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. * 1945 Resumed Colonial Service in Northern Nigeria. * 1952 to 1954 Private secretary to Minister of Local Government Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto * 1956 to 1958 Secretary to Cabinet and Executive Council, Northern Nigeria. * 1958 to 1959 Resident, Kano Province. * 1959 to 1963

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

to the Premier of Northern Nigeria, (Sir) A Ahmadu Bello Sardauna of Sokoto, and Head of the Regional Public Service * 1963 to 1968

Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

. Deputy High Commissioner to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

* 1967 to 1968 Acting High Commissioner, Kenya * 1969 to 1974 Governor of the Seychelles and Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Seychelles Governor inspection 1972

* 1974 to 1978 Head of the British Development Division in the Caribbean in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. * 1978 onwards. Private consulting work including 1979 to 1980 advice on land transfer problems in

Zimbabwe Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived unrecognised sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, though it lacked international recog ...

. Visit to

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

funded by the Whitson Foundation.

Chagos

Greatbatch oversaw the forced deportation of the Chagossians between 1969 and 1973. He and his subordinate, John Rawling Todd, were accused of ordering the island's dog population of 1,000 to be gassed as a means of intimidating the Chagossians before deportation. The deportation was carried out at the request of the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

in order to construct a military base on

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s, following the expulsion of the Chagossians by the UK government. The Chagos Islands are set to become a former B ...

Honours

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE, 1954) *

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

(CVO, 1956) *

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG, 1961) *

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

(1969) *

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO, 1972)

References

External links

"British-US conspiracy to steal a nation"
by

John Pilger John Richard Pilger (; 9 October 1939 – 30 December 2023) was an Australian journalist, writer, scholar and documentary filmmaker. From 1962, he was based mainly in Britain. He was also a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York. ...

1917 births 1989 deaths People educated at Malvern College Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Governors of British Seychelles Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Order of the British Empire Knights of the Order of St John British expatriates in Seychelles {{BritishIndianOcean-stub