Robert Pascoe

Last updated

Sir Robert Pascoe
Born (1932-02-21) 21 February 1932 (age 92)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Rank General
Service number 424428
Commands held Northern Ireland
1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets
Battles/wars Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Operation Banner
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Member of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in Despatches

General Sir Robert Alan Pascoe, KCB , MBE (born 21 February 1932) is a retired British Army officer who served as Adjutant-General to the Forces from 1988 to 1990.

Contents

Army career

Educated at Tavistock Grammar School and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Pascoe was commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1952. [1] He served with the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry in the Suez Canal Zone, Osnabrück and in the Cyprus Emergency; including with the 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) from November 1958 to May 1959. [2] Following which he served in Lebanon where he learned Arabic. [3] He served with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets in the United Kingdom and Malaysia from 1964 to 1966, [1] and was mentioned in despatches when serving in Borneo in 1966. [1] He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1968, [1] when commanding a company of the 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.

Pascoe commanded the 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and on two tours in Northern Ireland from 1971 to 1974, [1] and was mentioned in despatches in Northern Ireland in 1974. [1] He went on to command 5 Field Force in BAOR from 1976 to 1979. [1] While attending the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1979 he was sent to Northern Ireland to work on special duty with Sir Maurice Oldfield (former Head of MI6). He was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 1980, Chief of Staff UKLF at Wilton, in 1983, General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland in 1985, [1] and became a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath that same year. [1] He was promoted to general in 1988 on appointment to the role of Adjutant General, from which post he retired in 1990. [1]

His honorary posts included being Colonel Commandant of the 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets from 1986 to 1991 and ADC General to HM The Queen from 1989 to 1991. [1]

Later career

Pascoe was involved with several charities, including the Regular Forces Employment Association, and the Retired Officers Association and he was Vice President of The Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation which provided assistance to widows and orphans of members of the armed forces. He successfully arranged for this charity to be taken over by SSAFA in 2011. He is currently President of The Veterans Charity, [4] a charity initially set up in 2008 as Project 65 to mark the 65th Anniversary of D Day with a memorial to the men of the coup de main force under Major John Howard of the 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry who captured the two bridges later named "Pegasus" and "Horsa" on the left flank of the British landing zone. The memorial was unveiled on D-Day 2009 by General Sir Richard Dannatt, then Chief of the General Staff and four Veterans of the operation. The Veterans Charity now provides immediate needs support to Veterans facing hardship and organizes The Forces March [5] every year to raise funds.

Personal life

Pascoe married Pauline Myers on 28 December 1955 in Tavistock. They had four children: a son, Richard, and three daughters, Philippa, Hilary, Joanna. [6] Lady Pascoe died on 8 March 2013. General Pascoe married Mrs Alison Masters on Saturday 10 December 2016 in Marylebone, London. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Army of the Rhine</span> Inactive occupation formation in Germany

British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) is the name given to two British Army formations of the same name. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, the first after the First World War and the other, active after the Second World War and during the Cold War, eventually becoming part of NATO's contribution to allied forces there. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Green Jackets</span> Military unit

The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division.

The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, usually just known as the Devon and Dorsets, was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1958 by the amalgamation of two county regiments, the Devonshire Regiment and the Dorset Regiment. In 2007 it was itself merged into The Rifles, a "large regiment". Members of the regiments referred to themselves as being a Janner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry</span> Former regiment of the British Army

The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II.

The 1st Green Jackets was an infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1958 to 1966. The regiment served in the Cyprus Emergency, Brunei Revolt, Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and West Berlin. The regiment formed part of the Green Jackets Brigade and in 1963 was redesignated as a rifle regiment.

The Light Division is a light infantry division of the British Army. It was reformed in 2022, as part of Future Soldier reforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Jones (British Army officer)</span>

Sir Charles Edward Webb Jones, was a senior officer in the British Army. He served as Quartermaster-General and as Britain's military representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). He retired from the Army in 1995 to become Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the British Parliament's House of Lords, serving in that office until 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mogg (British Army officer)</span> British Army general (1913–2001)

General Sir Herbert John Mogg, was a senior British Army officer who also held the NATO position of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) and was "in his time, probably the British army's most popular general".

Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Francis Richardson was a British Army officer. Among other posts, he commanded a battalion and a brigade during the Troubles before becoming General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland from 1982 to 1985.

General Sir John Antony Jervis Read, was a senior British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1969 to 1973. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for gallantry during the campaign against the Italian Army in East Africa in 1941 and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his leadership and gallantry whilst in command of 1 Gambia Regiment in Burma in March 1945, during the Second World War.

Colonel Sir Robert Andrew St George Martin was a British Army officer who was Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire from 1965 to 1989.

Colonel Henry John Sweeney MC, known as Tod Sweeney, was an officer of the British Army. During the Second World War he was a platoon commander in the coup de main operation, by gliderborne troops of the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, tasked to seize Horsa Bridge and Pegasus Bridge before the main assault on the Normandy beaches began. The following day he was awarded the Military Cross for rescuing a wounded member of his platoon while under heavy fire near Escoville. Sweeney commanded the 1st Green Jackets at Penang from April 1962 to January 1964; during the Brunei Revolt and Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation.

Colonel David James Wood MBE was the last surviving officer of the coup de main operation carried out by glider borne troops of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, on D Day, 6 June 1944, tasked with capturing Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge before the main assault on the Normandy beaches began.

General Sir Joseph David Frederick Mostyn was a British soldier and one-time Adjutant-General to the Forces.

General Sir Roland Kelvin Guy, was a senior British Army officer who was Adjutant-General to the Forces.

Colonel Robin Evelegh was a British Army officer who was the author of Peace-Keeping in a Democratic Society-The Lessons of Northern Ireland (1978) which was based on his experiences as an infantry battalion commander in Belfast and which influenced later peacekeeping operations.

Major Dennis Barraclough Fox MBE (1920-1993) was an officer of the British Army. During the Second World War he led the first platoon to land at Horsa Bridge in the gliderborne 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry coup de main operation, during the opening minutes of D-Day, 6 June 1944, which captured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges. These bridges were considered to be critical to securing the eastern flank of the Normandy landings area.

Colonel Peter Gerahty CBE was one of the last surviving British Army officers to have served with 6th Airborne Division in Operation Varsity on 24 March 1945: the largest airborne operation in the history of warfare, part of Operation Plunder: the Rhine Crossing in March 1945. He was later appointed a CBE for his work on combat development with the Ministry of Defence.

Colonel John Maurice Arthur Tillett was a British Army officer who had a critical role in the planning of the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges on D-Day, 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. He was one of the last surviving British Army officers to have served with the 6th Airborne Division in Operation Mallard, on 6 June 1944, and in Operation Varsity, on 24 March 1945. He later commanded the Ugandan Army.

The following is a hierarchical outline for the structure of the British Army in 1989. The most authoritative source for this type of information available is Ministry of Defence, Master Order of Battle, and United Kingdom Land Forces, HQ UKLF, UKLF ORBAT Review Action Plan, HQ UKLF, 1990.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Who's Who 2009
  2. wwwgreenjackets-net.org.uk
  3. Favourite Heroes and Holy People Foreword by Ronald Blythe (2008)
  4. "The Veterans Charity – Supporting veterans and forces families". veteranscharity.org.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  5. "20th–24th MAY 2015 – HOME". 20th–24th MAY 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  6. "Death of Lady Pauline Pascoe with Funeral Arrangements". The Royal Green Jackets in Memoriam Board.
  7. "PASCOE". Telegraph Announcements.
Military offices
Preceded by Assistant Chief of the General Staff
1980–1983
Succeeded by
Preceded by General Officer Commanding the British Army in Northern Ireland
1985–1988
Succeeded by
Preceded by Adjutant General
1988–1990
Succeeded by