Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank

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The Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank
Born 17 November 1938 (1938-11-17) (age 73)
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Flag of the British Army.svg British Army
Years of service 1959 - 2001
Rank General
Service number 461440
Commands held 1 Bn Welsh Guards
4th Armoured Brigade
2nd Infantry Division
1st British Corps
British Army of the Rhine
Chief of the General Staff
Chief of the Defence Staff
Battles/wars Operation Banner
Bosnian War
Kosovo War
Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire

General Charles Ronald Llewelyn Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, GCB, LVO, OBE, DL (born 17 November 1938) was Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, between 1994 and 1997 and Chief of the Defence Staff between 1997 and 2001. During his military career he served with the Special Air Service, was closely involved in military operations in Northern Ireland and provided advice to the British Government during the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War.

Contents

[edit] Army career

Born the son of the late Ronald Guthrie and Nina Guthrie (née Llewelyn),[1] and educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst,[1] Guthrie was commissioned into the Welsh Guards on 25 July 1959.[2] He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June 1961[3] and captain on 25 July 1965.[4] In 1966 he became a troop commander with 22 Special Air Service Regiment serving in Aden, the Persian Gulf, Malaysia and East Africa and then in 1968 he became a squadron commander with 22 Special Air Service Regiment serving in the Persian Gulf and the United Kingdom.[5] He returned to the Welsh Guards in Münster in 1970 and, following his promotion to major on 31 December 1970,[6] he was given command a mechanised infantry company in the 1st Battalion.[5] He became Military Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff in 1973 and, following a year as Second in Command of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in London and Cyprus[5] and having been promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 31 December 1975,[7] he became Brigade Major for the Household Division in 1976.[1]

He was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in 1977 in which role he was deployed to Berlin.[1] Promoted to colonel on 31 December 1979,[8] he undertook a tour of duty in Northern Ireland in Spring 1980 for which he was appointed OBE.[9] In 1980 he was also briefly Commander of British Forces in the New Hebrides.[1] He then spent two years as Colonel on the General Staff for Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence.[1] Promoted to brigadier on 31 December 1981,[10] he became Brigade Commander of 4th Armoured Brigade in 1982.[1] In 1984 he was made Chief of Staff for 1st British Corps in Bielefeld.[5] Following his appointment as General Officer Commanding North East District and Commander 2nd Infantry Division based in York on 18 January 1986,[11] he was given the substantive rank of major-general on 31 March 1986.[12]

On 24 November 1987 he became Assistant Chief of the General Staff at the Ministry of Defence.[13] On 2 October 1989 he was promoted to lieutenant-general and appointed General Officer Commanding 1st British Corps,[14] and, having been appointed KCB in the New Year Honours 1990,[15] he relinquished his command on 2 December 1991.[16]

He was made Commander of Northern Army Group and British Army of the Rhine on 7 January 1992[17] and, following promotion to full general on 14 February 1992,[18] became ADC to the Queen on 13 July 1993.[19] He then became Chief of the General Staff ('CGS') on 15 March 1994,[20] being advanced to GCB in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1994.[21] As CGS, he was responsible for providing strategic military advice to the British Government on the deployment of troops for the Bosnian War.[22] He went on to be Chief of the Defence Staff on 2 April 1997,[23] in which role he advised the British Government on the conduct of the Kosovo War,[24] before retiring in 2001.[1]

He was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Intelligence Corps on 1 March 1986,[25] Colonel of the Life Guards and Gold Stick-in-Waiting to the Queen on 1 January 1999[26] and Colonel Commandant of the SAS Regiment in 2000.[1]

[edit] Later career

Guthrie became a cross bench member of the House of Lords as a Life Peer,[27] being created Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, of Craigiebank in the City of Dundee, after retiring as Chief of the Defence Staff.[1] He was one of the several retired Chiefs of Defence Staff who spoke out in the House of Lords about the risk to servicemen facing liability for their actions before the International Criminal Court, particularly in respect to the invasion of Iraq.[28] However Guthrie has been criticised by George Monbiot for an alleged lack of understanding of international law. Monbiot based his argument on Guthrie's September 2002 advocacy of an invasion of Iraq and subsequent comments, in which he appeared to support launching "surprise wars", something forbidden by the United Nations charter.[29] Guthrie also clashed with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown in 2008 over military funding.[30]

He is a non-executive director of N M Rothschild & Sons, Ashley Gardens Block 2 Ltd, Colt Defense LLC, Sciens Capital and Petropavlovsk PLC and non-executive chairman of Siboney Ltd.[31] He is also a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation, established in October 2009.[32]

Guthrie is the president of several charities, including Action Medical Research, the Army Benevolent Fund, the Federation of London Youth Clubs and the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association.[31] He is also a Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset.[1] A Roman Catholic convert,[33] he is a Knight of Malta[34] and Patron of the Cardinal Hume Centre.[35] His interests include tennis, opera and travel.[1]

[edit] Family

In 1971 he married Catherine Worrall; they have two sons.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010, ISBN 978-1-408-11414-8
  2. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 41826. p. 6045. 22 September 1959. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  3. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42419. p. 5495. 21 July 1961. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  4. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43721. p. 7137. 23 July 1965. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  5. ^ a b c d Nato biography
  6. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45271. p. 119. 1 January 1971. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  7. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46773. p. 16370. 29 December 1975. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  8. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48080. p. 1438. 28 January 1980. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  9. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48346. p. 14607. 20 October 1980. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  10. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48852. p. 157. 4 January 1982. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  11. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50426. p. 1965. 10 February 1986. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  12. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50515. p. 6487. 12 May 1986. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  13. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51136. p. 14769. 30 November 1987. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  14. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51890. p. 11310. 2 October 1989. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  15. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51981. p. 2. 29 December 1989. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  16. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52732. p. 18536. 2 December 1991. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  17. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52792. p. 497. 13 January 1992. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  18. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52838. p. 2789. 17 February 1992. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  19. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53369. p. 11759. 12 July 1993. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  20. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53645. p. 5799. 18 April 1994. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  21. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53696. p. 2. 10 June 1994. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  22. ^ "Transcript of the Press Briefing". NATO. 24 July 1996. http://www.nato.int/ifor/trans/t960724a.htm. Retrieved 17 December 2011. 
  23. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 54726. p. 4170. 7 April 1997. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  24. ^ "UK military briefing on operation allied force". 27 March 1999. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/ukos.htm. Retrieved 17 December 2011. 
  25. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50452. p. 3441. 10 March 1986. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  26. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 55365. p. 54. 4 January 1999. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  27. ^ Burkes Peerage
  28. ^ "Armed Forces: Chain of Command". Hansard. 14 July 2005. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2005-07-14b.1220.0&s=speaker%3A13420#g1233.0. Retrieved 17 December 2011. 
  29. ^ Monbiot, George (1 January 2008). "How Britain became party to a crime that may have killed a million people". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2233793,00.html. Retrieved 17 December 2011. 
  30. ^ Thomson, Alice (25 July 2009). "Guthrie attacks Gordon Brown over helicopters for Afghanistan troops". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6726512.ece. 
  31. ^ a b "House of Lords: Register of Interests". http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldreg/reg10.htm. Retrieved 17 December 2011. 
  32. ^ Borger, Julian (8 September 2009). "Nuclear-free world ultimate aim of new cross-party pressure group". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/08/nuclear-disarmament-cross-party-group. Retrieved 17 December 2011. 
  33. ^ "General tells pupils about history and leadership". Catholic Herald. 18 June 2010. http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/catholiclife/2010/06/18/general-tells-pupils-about-history-and-leadership/. Retrieved 28 December 2011. 
  34. ^ "Lord Guthrie: 'Tony's General' turns defence into an attack". The Independent. 11 November 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lord-guthrie-tonys-general-turns-defence-into-an-attack-399865.html. Retrieved 28 December 2011. 
  35. ^ "About Us: Patrons". Cardinal Hume Centre. http://www.cardinalhumecentre.org.uk/?pageid=SupportForTheCentre.xml. Retrieved 28 December 2011. 
Military offices
Preceded by
Peter Inge		 General Officer Commanding the 2nd Infantry Division
1985–1987		 Succeeded by
Murray Naylor
Preceded by
John MacMillan		 Assistant Chief of the General Staff
1987–1989		 Succeeded by
Richard Swinburn
Preceded by
Sir Peter Inge		 GOC 1st (British) Corps
1989 – 1991		 Succeeded by
Sir Jeremy Mackenzie
Preceded by
Sir Peter Inge		 Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine
1992–1994		 Succeeded by
None
Preceded by
Sir Peter Inge		 Chief of the General Staff
1994–1997		 Succeeded by
Sir Roger Wheeler
Preceded by
Sir Peter Inge		 Chief of the Defence Staff
1997–2001		 Succeeded by
Sir Michael Boyce
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