Ian Freeland

Infobox Military Person
name=Sir Ian Freeland


caption=
born=14 September 1912
died=2 July 1979
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=
placeofburial=
placeofburial_label=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
branch=
serviceyears=1932–1971
rank=Lieutenant-General
unit=Norfolk Regiment
commands=7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment 1944
1/5 Battalion Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) 1944–5
2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers 1954–1956
54th (East Anglian) Division 1961–1963
East Africa Command (British land Forces, Kenya) 1963–1964
GOC Northern Ireland 1969–1971
battles=Second World War
*North West Europe
Zanzibar Revolution
Northern Ireland
awards=Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE)
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)
Chevalier of the Order of the Crown with Palm
Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm
relations=
laterwork=
Lieutenant-General Sir Ian Henry Freeland GBE KCB DSO DL (14 September 1912 – 2 July 1979) was a British Army officer, who most notably served as Army General Officer Commanding and Director of Operations in security matters in Northern Ireland in the aftermath of rioting in 1969, and the beginning of the Troubles.

Army career

Early career and Second World War

The son of Major-General Sir Francis Edward Freeland, Freeland was initially educated at Wellington College.cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/FREELAND2.shtml|title=FREELAND, Sir Ian (Henry) (1912-1979), Lieutenant General|work=Liddell-Hart Centre for Military Archives|publisher=King's College London|accessdate=2008-06-26] cite newspaper The Times|articlename=Sir Ian Freeland—Testing time in Ulster |section=Obituaries |day_of_week=Friday |date=23 November 1979 |page_number=p. IV |issue=60482 |column=F ] Then, after Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Freeland was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Norfolk Regiment on 1 September 1932, [LondonGazette|issue=33860|startpage=5622|endpage=5623|date=2 September 1932|accessdate=2008-08-26] and promoted lieutenant on 1 September 1935, [LondonGazette|issue=34195|startpage=5622|endpage=5623|date=3 September 1935|accessdate=2008-08-26] and captain on 1 September 1940. [LondonGazette|issue=34936|supp=yes|startpage=5328|date=30 August 1940|accessdate=2008-08-26] At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was regimental adjutant. He then served as Brigade Major for the 7th Infantry Brigade in 1942 and General Staff Officer, Grade 2 at the War Office in 1943 and gained a variety of wartime promotions, culminating in 1944 in temporary promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel and command of the 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment in the fighting in Normandy, and for his leadership he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 21 December 1944. [LondonGazette|issue=36850|supp=yes|startpage=5853|date=19 December 1944|accessdate=2008-08-26] The citation for this award describes how his battalion was the forward unit of a bridgehead over the River Orne near Grimbosq and over the forty-eight hours of 7 August and 8 August 1944 repelled nine German counterattacks (by elements of 271st Volksgrenadier Division and 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend). Despite heavy German fire he constantly moved around the battlefield to encourage his forward companies, and find the moment to launch his own offensive. [cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7705820|title=Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—Image details—Freeland, Ian Henry|work=Documents Online|publisher=The National Archives] He later commanded 1/5 Battalion Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) through Belgium, and was awarded the Belgian decorations of Chevalier of the Order of the Crown with Palm and the Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm, the citation for these awards particularly mentions his command of the battalion during the capture of Ghent, when the battalion was the leading element of the 7th Armoured Division.LondonGazette|issue=37853|supp=yes|startpage=325|date=14 January 1947|accessdate=2008-08-26] [cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7696243|title=Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—Image details—Freeland, Ian Henry|work=Documents Online|publisher=The National Archives]

Post-war

Freeland held the the temporary rank of colonel and served on the staff of headquarters VIII Corps 1945–46, before becoming second-in-command of 4th Armoured Brigade and further staff duties at HQ British Army on the Rhine in 1946–47. This was followed by duty as Commandant, All Arms Training Centre 1948–1949; staff duty at the War Office 1949-1950; and instructing at the Staff College, Camberley 1951–1953.

While, at the end of the war, he held war substantive rank as a lieutenant-colonel, he was still only a substantive captain and was promoted to substantive major on 1 July 1946, [LondonGazette|issue=37635|supp=yes|startpage=3371|date=28 June 1946|accessdate=2008-08-26] and granted a brevet promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 1 July 1951. [LondonGazette|issue=39397|supp=yes|startpage=6239|date=27 November 1951|accessdate=2008-08-26] On 15 February 1954 he was promoted substantive lieutenant-colonel, and given command of 2n Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. [LondonGazette|issue=40197|supp=yes|startpage=3398|date=4 June 1954|accessdate=2008-08-26] The battalion served in Cyprus in 1954.

Freeland was promoted to substantive colonel on 2 April 1956 (with seniority from 10 June 1954), [LondonGazette|issue=40796|supp=yes|startpage=3295|date=1 June 1956|accessdate=2008-08-26] and brigadier on 1 January 1960. [LondonGazette|issue=41929|supp=yes|startpage=435|date=12 January 1960|accessdate=2008-08-26] He served as brigade commander 12th Infantry Brigade from 1956 to 1957, at the Imperial Defence College in 1958, and then returned to the War Offfice. He was promoted major-general on 18 March 1961 (with seniority from 10 February 1961), [LondonGazette|issue=42417|supp=yes|startpage=5395|date=18 July 1961|accessdate=2008-08-26] and appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) East Anglian District and 54 Infantry Division (T.A.), [LondonGazette|issue=42303|supp=yes|startpage=2045|date=14 March 1961|accessdate=2008-08-26] holding that post until 17 July 1963, by which time it had been renamed GOC 54 (East Anglian) Division District. [LondonGazette|issue=43057|supp=yes|startpage=6067|date=16 July 1963|accessdate=2008-08-26] He was then GOC, East Africa Command from 1 November 1963 [LondonGazette|issue=43173|supp=yes|startpage=9901|date=29 November 1963|accessdate=2008-08-26] until 28 November 1964, by which time the appointment had been renamed GOC, British Land Forces Kenya. [LondonGazette|issue=43598|supp=yes|startpage=2619|date=12 March 1965|accessdate=2008-08-26] This period saw British involvement in the Zanzibar Revolution. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1964 New Year Honours. [LondonGazette|issue=43200|supp=yes|startpage=3|date=31 December 1963|accessdate=2008-08-26] He then served as Vice-Adjutant-General at the Ministry of Defence from 3 December 1964 [LondonGazette|issue=43514|supp=yes|startpage=10649|date=11 December 1964|accessdate=2008-08-26] until 1 February 1968. [LondonGazette|issue=44517|supp=yes|startpage=1475|date=12 March 1968|accessdate=2008-08-26] He was then appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff on 1 April 1968 and promoted to lieutenant-general the same day (with seniority from 20 October 1968). [LondonGazette|issue=44558|supp=yes|startpage=3863|date=29 March 1968|accessdate=2008-08-26] He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KCB) in the 1968 Queen's Birthday Honours. [LondonGazette|issue=44600|supp=yes|startpage=6300|date=31 May 1968|accessdate=2008-08-26] He stepped down as deputy chief of staff on 31 December 1968, as the position was abolished, along with its equivalents in the Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. [LondonGazette|issue=44854|supp=yes|startpage=5480|date=22 May 1969|accessdate=2008-08-26]

Freeland held the honorary appointment of Deputy Colonel of the Royal Anglian Regiment (successor to the Royal Norfolk Regiment) with specific responsibility for the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire components of the regiment from 1968, [LondonGazette|issue=44625|supp=yes|startpage=7349|date=28 June 1968|accessdate=2008-08-26] and was appointed Colonel of the Regiment on 4 October 1971, [LondonGazette|issue=45487|supp=yes|startpage=10678|date=4 October 1971|accessdate=2008-08-26] relinquishing the appointment on 1 October 1976. [LondonGazette|issue=47030|supp=yes|startpage=13442|date=4 October 1976|accessdate=2008-08-26]

Northern Ireland

In the middle of August 1969, the decision was made to reinforce the police in Northern Ireland with army personnel. Freeland had been appointed General Officer Commanding on 9 July 1969, during a relatively peaceful time in the early Troubles, when just 1,000 British troops were stationed there, [LondonGazette|issue=44895|supp=yes|startpage=7284|date=11 July 1969|accessdate=2008-08-26] and was subsequently made Director of Operations in security matters on 28 August.cite book
last = Bew
first = Paul
authorlink = Paul Bew, Baron Bew
coauthors = Gordon Gillespie
title = Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles, 1968-1993
publisher = Gill & Macmillan
date = 1993
pages = pp. 18
isbn = 0-7171-2081-3 ] By mid-August, there had been major rioting. Troop levels had reached about 6,000, and Freeland was warning that there was a danger that soldiers would become targets. [cite newspaper The Times|articlename=British troops may become targets, GOC says|author=Charles Douglas-Home|section=News|day_of_week=Tuesday|date=19 August 1969 |page_number=8|issue=57642|column=B] Initially unionists saw Freeland as being on their side, though this changed when he argued strongly for the abolition of the B Specials. However, support from the nationalist community also waned after the shooting of Daniel O'Hagan on 31 July 1970. He also received criticism for a television interview he gave, in which he said, "that the Army's patience was not inexhaustible, and that force might have to be met by force". He fully expected to be dismissed from his post, but he was supported by the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, and the Home Secretary, James Callaghan. [cite newspaper The Times|articlename=Home Secretary defends General Freeland: Unionist MP wants commander replaced|section=Politics and Parliament|day_of_week=Wednesday|date=8 April 1970 |page_number=13|issue=57838|column=D] By June 1970, troop numbers reached 7,000, largely to meet expected trouble arising from the climax of the "marching season", and the release of Bernadette Devlin from jail. In the event, no major trouble materialised, perhaps thanks to the precautions put in effect. By September 1970 it was reported that Freeland was to step down at his own request, due to its extremely stressful nature. [cite newspaper The Times|articlename=Two new security chiefs for Northern Ireland|author=Henry Stanhope, John Chartres |section=News|day_of_week=Thursday|date=24 September 1970 |page_number=2|issue=57979|column=E] He was succeeded by Vernon Erskine-Crum on 4 February 1971. [LondonGazette|issue=45299|supp=yes|startpage=1214|date=5 February 1971|accessdate=2008-08-26] This proved to be a short-lived appointment as Erskine-Crum suffered a heart-attack soon afterwards and was replaced, in turn, by Lieutenant-General Harry Tuzo on 2 March. [LondonGazette|issue=45322|supp=yes|startpage=2269|date=16 March 1971|accessdate=2008-08-26] Freeland was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 1971 Queen's Birthday Honours, [LondonGazette|issue=45384|supp=yes|startpage=5961|date=4 June 1971|accessdate=2008-08-26] and retired from the army on 21 June 1971. [LondonGazette|issue=45422|supp=yes|startpage=7491|date=12 July 1971|accessdate=2008-08-26]

He correctly predicted a "honeymoon period" after British soldiers were placed on patrol on the streets, though he incorrectly predicted that the peace lines in Belfast were to be temporary.

quote|The peace line will be a very, very temporary affair. We will not have a Berlin Wall or anything like that in this city.|Lieutenant-General Sir Ian Freeland, 1969 [cite web
last = Harding
first = Thomas
title = The security wall on our doorstep
work = Telegraph.co.uk
publisher = The Daily Telegraph
date = 2004-02-25
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1455245/The-security-wall-on-our-doorstep.html
accessdate = 2008-08-25 ]

Retirement

After his retirement from the army Freeland lived in Dereham, Norfolk. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Norfolk in 1972, [LondonGazette|issue=45720|startpage=8076|date=12 July 1971|accessdate=2008-08-26] and Vice Lieutenant in 1978. [LondonGazette|issue=47510|startpage=4428|date=11 April 1978|accessdate=2008-08-26]

References

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