Giles Legood

Last updated

The Venerable

Giles Legood
Venerable Dr (Air Vice-Marshal) Giles Legood (cropped).jpg
Legood in 2023
Born1967 (age 56–57) [1]
Maidstone, Kent, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Years of service2007–present
Rank Air Vice-Marshal
Commands held Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch
Battles/wars Iraq War
War in Afghanistan
Awards Member of the Order of the British Empire
Alma mater King's College London

Air Vice-Marshal Giles Leslie Legood, MBE , KHC (born 1967) is a British Anglican priest. Since July 2022 he has served as Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force. He previously served as Deputy Chaplain-in-Chief. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Legood was born in Maidstone in Kent and grew up in Bearsted. He was educated at Roseacre Junior School, and later Maidstone Grammar School. [3] He studied at King's College London, graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree and the Associate of King's College (AKC) qualification. [4] He then worked in the City of London for two years. [2]

From 1990 to 1992, he trained for ordained ministry at Ripon College Cuddesdon, an Anglican theological college near Oxford. [4] He later undertook postgraduate studies, graduated from Heythrop College London with a Master of Theology (MTh) degree in 1998 and from Derby University with a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree in 2004. [4]

Ordained ministry

Legood officiating at a funeral, 2019 Giles Legood officiating.jpg
Legood officiating at a funeral, 2019

Legood was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1992 and as a priest in 1993. [4] From 1992 to 1995, he served his curacy at St Mary's Church, North Mymms in the Diocese of St Albans. [4] He was made Chaplain and Honorary Lecturer in the University of London in 1995. [2]

Military service

On 20 October 2004, Legood was commissioned into the Chaplains Branch, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, as a flight lieutenant. [5] He was attached to No. 600 Squadron RAF, and was the RAF's first part-time chaplain. [6]

In 2007, Legood transferred to the Royal Air Force as a full-time chaplain. [7] He served as chaplain to RAF Northolt, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2013, he was promoted to the relative rank of wing commander. [2] In 2015 he became senior chaplain at RAF Brize Norton. During his time there, and earlier in service, he joined detachments to the Falkland Islands, Germany, Cyprus, Ascension Island, Kenya and Saudi Arabia. [2]

In 2017, Legood was promoted to Deputy Chaplain-in-Chief (Operations) and was based at Headquarters Air Command. [2]

From 2021 to 2022, Legood attended the Royal College of Defence Studies. On 5 August 2022, on completion of his course, he was appointed Chaplain in Chief (head of the RAF Chaplains Branch) and promoted to the relative rank of air vice-marshal. [8] As the most senior Anglican chaplain, he also additionally serves as Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force, [4] and was collated as archdeacon by Hugh Nelson, Bishop to the Armed Forces, during a service at St Clement Danes on 11 September 2022. [9]

Honours and decorations

In 2014, Legood was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Afghanistan during the period 1 April 2013 to 30 September 2013. [10] [11] This made him the first RAF chaplain to receive an operational honour since the Second World War. [6] On 22 July 2018, he was made an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC). [12] Upon the succession of King Charles III, he became an Honorary Chaplain to the King (KHC). [4] He is also a recipient of the Iraq Medal, the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan, the Operational Service Medal Iraq and Syria, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Clement Danes</span> Church in London, England

St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current building was completed in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren. Wren's building was gutted by Luftwaffe bombing raids during the Blitz and not restored until 1958, when it was adapted to its current function as the central church of the Royal Air Force.

Leonard James Ashton, was an English Anglican bishop and military chaplain. He was the inaugural Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf, serving from 1976 to 1983. He had previously spent most of his ordained ministry serving in the Chaplains Branch of the Royal Air Force, and rose to become its Chaplain-in-Chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch</span> Military unit

The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch provides military chaplains for the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom.

Raymond Harcourt Roberts was a Welsh Anglican priest and Royal Navy chaplain. He served as Chaplain of the Fleet and Archdeacon of the Royal Navy from 1980 to 1984.

Maurice Henry Edwards, OBE was a British Anglican priest. During World War II, from 1940 to 1944, he was Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Pentland</span> British Church of England priest

Raymond Jackson Pentland, is a British Church of England priest. He is a retired military chaplain, having served as Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force and head of its Chaplains Branch from 2009 to 2014.

Peter Watson Mills, CB is a British minister of the Church of Scotland and a retired senior Royal Air Force officer. He served as Chaplain-in-Chief of the RAF and head of its Chaplains Branch from 2006 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Chaffey</span> British Church of England priest

Jonathan Paul Michael Chaffey is a British Church of England priest and former military chaplain, who served with the Royal Air Force. He serves as Archdeacon of Oxford in the same diocese; from 2014 to 2018 he served as the Chaplain-in-Chief and head of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch. He previously served as Deputy Chaplain-in-Chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Wheatley</span> British Anglican priest and former Royal Navy officer

Ian James Wheatley, is a British Anglican priest and former Royal Navy officer. From 2014 to 2018, he has served as Chaplain of the Fleet, the senior military chaplain of the Royal Navy: he had also served as Deputy Chaplain of the Fleet and Principal Anglican Chaplain from 2012 to 2014.

Luke Jonathan Miller is a Church of England priest. Since January 2016, he has been Archdeacon of London. From 2010 until 2015, he was Archdeacon of Hampstead in the Diocese of London. He is an executive officer of the Society of Mary, an Anglican devotional society.

Martin George Poll, is a British Church of England priest and former Royal Navy chaplain. Since 2012, he has been the Canon Chaplain of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and Domestic Chaplain to the Queen. From 2010 to 2012, he was Archdeacon for the Royal Navy and Principal Anglican Chaplain of the Royal Navy Chaplaincy Services.

Kenneth Julian Faithfull Bickersteth, was an English Anglican priest, military chaplain, and headmaster from the prominent Bickersteth family. He served as Archdeacon of Maidstone from 1942 to 1958. In 1953, he was appointed Honorary Chaplain to the Queen.

The most senior Anglican chaplain in each branch of the British Armed Forces is made an archdeacon in the Church of England. Respectively they are titled the Archdeacon for the Royal Navy, the Archdeacon for the Army, and the Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force. As an archdeacon, they are styled The Venerable.

Ronald David Hesketh, is a British Anglican priest and retired military chaplain. From 2001 to 2006, he served as Chaplain-in-Chief, and thereby head of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch, and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force.

Anthony Peter Bishop, CB, QHC, FRSA is a British Anglican priest and retired military chaplain. In 1995 to 1998 he was appointed Resident Chaplain of St Clement Danes in London, the central church of the Royal Air Force. From 1998 to 2001, he served as Chaplain-in-Chief, and thereby head of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch, and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force.

Peter Robin Turner, CB, DL, QHC, AKC was a British Anglican priest and military chaplain. From 1995 to 1998, he served as Chaplain-in-Chief, and thereby head of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch, and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force.

Brian Humphrey Lucas is a British Anglican priest and retired military chaplain.

Brian Norman Halfpenny, CB, QHC, FRSA is a British Anglican priest and retired military chaplain. From 1988 to 1991, he served as Chaplain-in-Chief, and thereby head of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch, and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton Langston</span> British Anglican priest and military chaplain

Clinton Matthew Langston, is a British Anglican priest and military chaplain. He served as Chaplain General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army between 2018 and 2022, and as Archdeacon for the Army in the Church of England between 2017 and 2022. He was previously Deputy Chaplain General from 2017 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ellis (chaplain)</span> British Anglican priest and former police officer

Air Vice-Marshal John Raymond Ellis, is a British Anglican priest and former police officer. Between July 2018 and July 2022 he served as Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force. He had worked as a police officer and then in parish ministry in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich from 1997, before joining the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch in 2004.

References

  1. ↑ "Giles Leslie Legood" . Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing . Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Chaplain in Chief and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force: The Venerable Doctor (Air Vice-Marshal) Giles Legood MBE QHC". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Maidstone man who played key role in Queen's funeral speaks of his honour". Kent Online. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Giles Leslie Legood" . Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing . Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "No. 57494". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 December 2004. p. 15686.
  6. 1 2 "The World's Toughest Parish?". Royal Air Force. 10 November 2014. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  7. ↑ Cain, Rebecca (8 April 2014). "RAF chaplain awarded MBE". Bucks Free Press . Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "No. 63817". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 September 2022. p. 17748.
  9. ↑ Hales, Joshua (13 October 2022). "New Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force is collated at the Central Church of the RAF". St Clement Danes Church. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "Operational Honours and Awards List: 21 March 2014". GOV.UK. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "No. 60813". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 March 2014. pp. 5835–5836.
  12. ↑ "No. 62499". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 December 2018. p. 22951.
Military offices
Preceded by Chaplain-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force
2022–present		Incumbent
Church of England titles
Preceded by
John Ellis
 Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force
2022–present		Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.