Richard Lawson (British Army officer)

Richard Lawson
Born	24 November 1927
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1948–1986
Rank	General
Unit	Royal Tank Regiment
Commands held	20th Armoured Brigade 1st Armoured Division GOC Northern Ireland C-in-C Allied Forces Northern Europe
Battles/wars	ONUC Aden Emergency Northern Ireland
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Officer of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of St. Sylvester Officer of the Order of the Crown of Belgium

General Sir Richard George Lawson KCB, DSO, OBE, KCSS (born 24 November 1927) is a former British Army officer, who served as General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and later as Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Northern Europe.

Early career

He was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment as a second lieutenant on 15 July 1948, after leaving the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,^[1] and promoted lieutenant on 15 July 1950.^[2]

Congo and Yemen

Lawson was promoted to major on 16 July 1961.^[3] In December 1961, he volunteered for service with the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Republic of the Congo. At the time he was attached to the Nigerian Army, on secondment from the 1st Royal Tank Regiment. He served in South Kasai and then Katanga, where he became briefly famous for his part in the rescue of several groups of missionaries, and was nicknamed "Dick the Lionheart" by the Daily Express.^[4] In 1963 he published a book recounting his time in the Congo, entitled Strange Soldiering: Major Lawson's own dramatic story of his experiences with the third Nigerian brigade.^[5][6] For his actions he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 30 March 1962, and the Nigerian officer, Major Conrad Diba Nwawo, 1st Battalion, The Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment, who accompanied Lawson was awarded the Military Cross,^[7] Lawson was also appointed an Officer of the Order of the Crown of Belgium,^[8] and a Knight Commander of the Papal Order of St. Sylvester.^[9][10]

From March to November 1967 Lawson undertook another secondment in a British colony on the verge of independence, the Federation of South Arabia (now part of Yemen), acting as GSO1 to the British forces stationed there, training local officers in staff duties, and overseeing the transition to local forces controlling security in Aden; for this he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on 8 June 1968, in the Queen's Birthday Honours.^[11][12] During this period he was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 30 June 1967.^[13] He was promoted colonel on 6 July 1971^[14] and brigadier on 31 December 1971.^[15]

Promotion to general officer

From 1972 to 1973 he commanded 20th Armoured Brigade.^[16] On 7 November 1977 he took command of 1st Armoured Division with the acting rank of major-general,^[17] and received substantive promotion on 30 June 1978 (with seniority from 1 April 1976).^[18] On 3 November 1979, he ceased to command 1st Division.^[19]

He succeeded Timothy Creasey as GOC Northern Ireland on 1 December 1979, and was promoted to lieutenant-general after his appointment.^[20][21] He was himself succeeded by Robert Richardson on 1 June 1982.^[22][23] In the 1980 New Year Honours he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB),^[24] and on 1 January 1980 he was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Royal Tank Regiment, a post he held until 1 June 1982.^[25][26]

He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Northern Europe, a NATO post, on 15 November 1982,^[27] replacing Anthony Farrar-Hockley, and was promoted to general on his appointment.^[28] He was succeeded by Geoffrey Howlett on 10 February 1986.^[27][29] He retired from the army on 28 May 1986.^[30]

References

1. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 38383. p. 4622. 17 August 1948. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
2. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 38967. p. 3611. 14 July 1950. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
3. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42410. p. 5165. 11 July 1961. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
4. Dick the Lionheart, Time magazine, 16 February 1962. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
5. Review on trademe.co.nz. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
6. Strange Soldiering: Major Lawson's own dramatic story of his experiences with the third Nigerian brigade. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1963. OCLC 185879600.
7. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42635. p. 2593. 27 March 1962. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
8. The London Gazette: no. 42821. p. 8463. 30 October 1962. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
9. The London Gazette: no. 43320. p. 4113. 12 May 1964. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
10. Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain
11. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 44600. p. 6304. 31 May 1968. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
12. Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—Image details—Documents Online, The National Archives (fee may be required to view full pdf of original recommendation). Retrieved 7 September 2008.
13. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 44357. p. 7383. 30 June 1967. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
14. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45417. p. 7203. 5 July 1971. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
15. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45564. p. 87. 23 January 1972. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
16. 20th Armoured Brigade - Brigade Commander
17. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47390. p. 14929. 28 November 1977. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
18. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47588. p. 8324. 11 July 1978. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
19. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48015. p. 14929. 26 November 1979. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
20. Bew, Paul; Gordon Gillespie (1993). Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles, 1968-1993. Gill & Macmillan. p. 136. ISBN 0-7171-2081-3.
21. A Chronology of the Conflict - 1979, CAIN website. Note that the London Gazette announced the handover effective 8 January 1980: The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48100. p. 2625. 18 February 1980. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
22. Chronology of the Conflict 1982, CAIN
23. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49002. p. 7562. 7 June 1982. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
24. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48041. p. 2. 28 December 1979. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
25. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48080. p. 1441. 28 January 1980. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
26. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49028. p. 8222. 21 June 1982. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
27. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "Senior officials in the NATO military structure, from 1949 to 2001" (PDF).
28. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49180. p. 15621. 29 November 1982. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
29. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50440. p. 2711. 24 February 1986. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
30. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50535. p. 7419. 2 June 1986. Retrieved 2008-09-07.

External links

• Portrait by Robin Paine, 1985.