Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

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Colonel Hamish Stephen de Bretton-Gordon OBE (born September 1963) is a chemical weapons expert. He was formerly a British Army officer for 23 years and commanding officer of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment and NATO's Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion. [1] He is a visiting lecturer in disaster management at Bournemouth University. [2] He attended Tonbridge School and has a degree in agriculture from the University of Reading (1987).[ citation needed ] He has commented on chemical and biological weapons for the BBC, [3] ABC [4] and The Guardian [5] and on tank warfare for the Daily Telegraph. [6]

Contents

Military service

On 4 January 1988, while being sponsored through university by the British Army as a university candidate, de Bretton-Gordon was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) in the Royal Tank Regiment. [7] In September 1988, his commission was confirmed: he was given seniority in the rank of second lieutenant from 10 August 1985, and promoted to lieutenant backdated to 4 January 1988 with seniority from 10 August 1987. [8] He transferred from a short service commission to a regular commission on 29 January 1991, [9] and was promoted to captain on 10 August 1991. [10] In 1991, he saw active service in Iraq with the 14th/20th King's Hussars as part of the First Gulf War. [11]

After attending the Australian Command and Staff College, he was promoted to major on 30 September 1995. [12] [13] He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 2003. [14] In 2004, rather than receiving the command of a tank regiment as he'd expected, he was appointed commanding officer of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment. [15] In preparation for the command, he studied for a diploma in chemical biology at the Royal Military College of Science. [16] In the 2005 New Year Honours, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). [17] He additionally commanded NATO's Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion between 2005 and 2007. [18] He was promoted to colonel on 30 June 2007. [19] From 2007 to 2010, he was based at HQ Land Command as assistant director intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. [13] He retired from the British Army on 12 September 2011. [20]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Hamish de Bretton-Gordon". The Guardian . 27 April 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE". Military Speakers. 26 June 1952. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  3. ↑ Bretton-Gordon, Hamish de (16 February 2018). "Viewpoint: Chemical weapons 'threat to West'". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. ↑ "ABC Search".
  5. ↑ "Hamish de Bretton-Gordon". the Guardian. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "British-made tanks are about to sweep Putin's conscripts aside". The Telegraph. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "No. 51262". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 March 1988. p. 2793.
  8. ↑ "No. 51480". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 March 1988. p. 10778.
  9. ↑ "No. 52518". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 April 1991. p. 6709.
  10. ↑ "No. 52659". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 September 1991. p. 14123.
  11. ↑ de Bretton-Gordon, Hamish (2020). "Introduction: February 1991". Chemical Warrior: Syria, Salisbury and Saving Lives at War. London: Headline.
  12. ↑ "No. 54173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 October 1995. p. 13315.
  13. 1 2 "Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE". linkedin. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  14. ↑ "No. 56986". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 July 2003. p. 8126.
  15. ↑ de Bretton-Gordon, Hamish (2020). "2: New Assignment". Chemical Warrior: Syria, Salisbury and Saving Lives at War. London: Headline.
  16. ↑ de Bretton-Gordon, Hamish (2020). "3: The First Step". Chemical Warrior: Syria, Salisbury and Saving Lives at War. London: Headline.
  17. ↑ "No. 57509". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2004. p. 5.
  18. ↑ Cruickshank, Paul (August 2018). "A View from the CT Foxhole: An Interview with Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, Former Commander of U.K. CBRN Regiment" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 11 (7): 5–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  19. ↑ "No. 58381". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 July 2007. pp. 9548–9549.
  20. ↑ "No. 59986". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 December 2011. p. 23309.
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