Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

John Douglas Slim, 2nd Viscount Slim (20 July 1927 – 12 January 2019), was a British peer, soldier and businessman. He was one of the 92 elected hereditary peers in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, elected to remain after the passing of the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

. In 1970, he succeeded to his father's title. He sat as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

Life and work

The son of Aileen ( Robertson) and William Slim (later 1st Viscount Slim), he was born in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and was educated at

Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) () is a military school for boys situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the Nation ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

. In 1944, Slim joined the

6th Gurkha Rifles The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army, before being transferred to the British Army following India's independence. Originally raised in 1817 as part of the army of the British East India Compa ...

of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

and was later transferred to the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

in 1948. He entered the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

in 1952 in Malaya, where he was involved in developing pioneering techniques of jungle warfare. He is personally thanked in the author's note at the start of Dennis Holman's 1958 jungle warfare classic, Noone of the Ulu. From 1961, he was instructor at 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, which ...

, and from 1964 at the Joint Services Staff College. He commanded an SAS squadron during the

Indonesian Confrontation Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. In 1967 he became CO of 22 SAS, where he helped to develop its counter-terrorist capabilities, before handing over to John Watts in 1969. In 1972, he retired from the armed forces at the rank of lieutenant colonel with a later honorary promotion to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

. He was appointed an

Officer 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 ...

the following year. Slim was chairman of Peek plc from 1976 to 1991, deputy chairman from 1991 to 1996, and eventually consultant from 1996 to 2003. He was further director of Trailfinders travel company and Trustee of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL). From 1971 until his death he was president of the Burma Star Association and from 2000 president of the SAS Association. He was also Patron of Prospect Burma, a London-based charity that offers higher education scholarships to Burmese students as well as the Graham Layton Trust, a British charity which helps to raise money for eyecare in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. From 2005 to 2016 Slim was Patron of the Burma Children's Fund a UK Charity supporting children's education and health care in Burma. Having been chairman in the past, he was vice-president of the

Britain–Australia Society The Britain–Australia Society is an organization that was established in 1971 to promote historic links between the United Kingdom and Australia. Its London headquarters is in the Australia Centre within Australia House. It has other branches th ...

. From 1977 to 1996, he was vice-chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. In 1983, Slim was made a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. Between 1995 and 1996, he was also Master of the

Worshipful Company of Clothworkers The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. It was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1528, following the merger of two older guilds: the Fullers (incorporated in 1480) and the Shearmen (incorporat ...

. He served as an honorary chairman of the OSS Society. Slim was married to cordon bleu chef Elisabeth

Spinney Spinney may refer to: *A copse or thicket People * Art Spinney (1927–1994), American football guard *Caroll Spinney (1933–2019), American puppeteer and cartoonist * Edgar Keith Spinney, (1851–1926), Canadian politician * Franklin C. Spinney ...

from 1958 until her death in 2018. They had two sons, Mark William Rawdon Slim (born 1960) and Hugo John Robertson Slim (born 1961), and a daughter, Mary Ann Elisabeth Slim (born 1964). He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

on 1 March 1988. This gave him the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

"DL" for life. He was moved to the retired list upon reaching the age of 75 in 2002. Slim died on 12 January 2019, aged 91.

Arms

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slim, John Slim, 2nd Viscount 1927 births 2019 deaths Deputy lieutenants of Greater London Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Officers of the Order of the British Empire 2 Crossbench hereditary peers British Indian Army officers Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders officers Special Air Service officers Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act 1999