Ian Freer | |
---|---|
Born | 18 May 1941 |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1961–1996 |
Rank | Major General |
Service number | 468998 |
Commands held | 5th Infantry Division Wales and Western District |
Battles/wars | Operation Banner |
Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire |
Major General Ian Lennox Freer, CB , CBE (born 18 May 1941) [1] is a retired British Army officer who commanded the 5th Division from 1995 to 1996.
Freer was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, then attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. [1] He was commissioned into the Staffordshire Regiment in 1961. [2] He was appointed Chief of British Mission to Soviet Forces in Europe in 1989 and then served as Commander Land Forces in Northern Ireland from 1991 to 1994 during The Troubles. [3] He went on to be General Officer Commanding Wales and Western District in 1994 and General Officer Commanding 5th Division in 1995 before retiring in 1996. [4]
Freer was appointed colonel of the Staffordshire Regiment from 1990 to 1995. [5]
On his retirement in 1996 Freer settled in Melbourne, Australia, and became chairman of Ocean Software. [6]
The Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales') (or simply "Staffords" for short) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment was formed in 1959 by the amalgamation of the South Staffordshire Regiment and the North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales'), and in 2007 was amalgamated with the Cheshire Regiment and the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment to become the 3rd Battalion, Mercian Regiment.
Major-General Dudley Graham Johnson, was a British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Lieutenant General William James Lennox Jr. of Houston, Texas, was the 56th Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York from 2001 to 2006.
The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a mounted auxiliary unit of the British Army raised in 1794 to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion. It continued in service after the Napoleonic Wars, frequently being called out in support of the civil powers. It first sent units overseas at the time of the Second Boer War and saw distinguished service in Egypt and Palestine in World War I. During World War II it gave up its horses and became a tank regiment, serving in the Western Desert and landing in Normandy on D-Day. Postwar the Staffordshire Yeomanry became part of the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry with one of the squadrons being designated 'Staffordshire Yeomanry' until 2021.
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The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Regiment of Foot. In 1881, under the Childers Reforms, the 64th Regiment of Foot was merged with the 98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot (originally raised in 1824) to form the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment). In 1921 the regimental title was altered to the North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's).
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General Sir Michael John Wilkes, was a British Army officer who served as Adjutant-General to the Forces from 1993 to 1995.
General Sir Reginald Hackett Hewetson, was a senior British Army officer and a former Adjutant-General to the Forces.
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