Frank King (British Army officer)

Infobox Military Person
name=Sir Frank King


caption=
born=1919
died=1998
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=
placeofburial=
placeofburial_label=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
branch=
serviceyears=1939-1978
rank=General
unit=Royal Welch Fusiliers;
Royal Fusiliers;
Reconnaissance Corps;
Parachute Regiment;
Wiltshire Regiment
commands=2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, 1960–62;
11th Infantry Brigade group 1963–65;
Army Air Corps 1967–68;
Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, 1969–71;
General Officer Commanding, Army Strategic Command, 1971–72;
Deputy Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces, 1972–73;
General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland, 1973–75;
Commander NATO Northern Army Group and Commander-in-Chief British Army of the Rhine, 1976–78
battles=Second World War
*Operation Market Garden
Northern Ireland
awards=Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB);
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB);
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB);
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
relations=Major-General Dair Farrar-Hockley (son-in-law)
laterwork=Company Chairman
General Sir Frank Douglas King GCB MBE (9 March 1919 – 30 March 1998) was a British Army officer who was General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the British Army in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. He held a number of other senior posts in the British Army, having begun his military career in the ranks during the Second World War.

Early life and Second World War

King was born on 9 March 1919 in Brightwell, which was then in Berkshire, where his parents, Arthur and Kate King, were farmers. He was educated at Wallingford Grammar School, and but for the outbreak of the Second World War would have carried on the family farm.Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=General Sir Frank King; Obituary |author= |section=Features |day_of_week= |date=2 April 1998 |page_number=25 |page_numbers= |issue= |column= ] Initially in the ranks of a Territorial Army unit, he was commissioned into the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a second lieutenant on 4 July 1940. [LondonGazette|issue=35192|supp=yes|startpage=3441|date=13 June 1941|accessdate=2008-09-02] Now a war substantive lieutenant, he briefly transferred to the Royal Fusiliers from 14 June 1941, [LondonGazette|issue=34888|supp=yes|startpage=4080|endpage=4082|date=2 July 1940|accessdate=2008-09-02] and then to the Reconnaissance Corps on 15 July, [LondonGazette|issue=35360|supp=yes|startpage=6828|date=25 November 1941|accessdate=2008-09-02] and finally to the Parachute Regiment on 19 October 1943. [LondonGazette|issue=36318|supp=yes|startpage=157|date=4 January 1944|accessdate=2008-09-02] He participated in Operation Market Garden, and was wounded and taken prisoner of war at Arnhem.

Post-war

King was selected for staff training, and was one of the first students to pass through the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham Technical Staff course in 1946; he was then granted a regular commission as a lieutenant in the Wiltshire Regiment on 22 February 1947 (with seniority from 7 November 1941), [LondonGazette|issue=37886|supp=yes|startpage=855|date=18 February 1947|accessdate=2008-09-02] [LondonGazette|issue=38240|supp=yes|startpage=1926|date=16 March 1948|accessdate=2008-09-02] and he was subsequently promoted to captain from the same date (with seniority from 1 July 1946). [LondonGazette|issue=37910|supp=yes|startpage=1323|date=18 March 1947|accessdate=2008-09-02] 1947 also saw his marriage to Joy Emily Ellen Taylor-Lane. In 1950 he passed the General Staff course at Staff College, Camberley, he also qualified as pilot, He was promoted major on 7 May 1953 (with seniority from 9 March 1953). [LondonGazette|issue=39847|supp=yes|startpage=2566|date=5 May 1953|accessdate=2008-09-02] [LondonGazette|issue=41988|supp=yes|startpage=2122|date=18 March 1960|accessdate=2008-09-02] For two years prior to this he had served as a General Staff Officer Grade II in the Infantry Directorate at the War Office, working on standardisation of infantry weapons with his Belgian, Canadian and American couterparts, this work led to his appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1953 Coronation Honours. [cite web|title=Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—King, Frank Douglas|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7942103|work=Documents Online|publisher=The National Archives|format=fee may be required to view full original recommendation|accessdate=2008-09-03] [LondonGazette|issue=39863|supp=yes|startpage=2948|endpage=2950|date=26 May 1953|accessdate=2008-09-02] He transferred back to the Parachute Regiment on 31 May 1958, [LondonGazette|issue=41988|supp=yes|startpage=2123|date=18 March 1960|accessdate=2008-09-02] serving as second-in-command of the 1st battalion. After a brief spell as Assistant Military Secretary at the War Office, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 1 April 1960, [LondonGazette|issue=42075|supp=yes|startpage=4510|date=24 June 1960|accessdate=2008-09-02] and became commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, based in Cyprus and Bahrain, and also during its participation in the British intervention in Kuwait.

King was promoted colonel on 10 December 1962, [LondonGazette|issue=42951|supp=yes|startpage=2735|date=22 March 1963|accessdate=2008-09-02] and then commanded the 11th Infantry Brigade group, based at Minden in Germany, from 1963–65.cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/KING5.shtml|title=King, Sir Frank (Douglas) (1919-1998), General|work=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|publisher=King's College, London|accessdate=2008-09-03] He became Military Adviser (Overseas Equipment) in the Ministry of Defence in 1965, and was promoted brigadier on 17 December 1965, [LondonGazette|issue=43884|supp=yes|startpage=1003|date=25 January 1966|accessdate=2008-09-02] continuing in the same role for the rest of 1966. On 1 January 1967 he was promoted Major-General and appointed Director, Land/Air Warfare, [LondonGazette|issue=44218|supp=yes|startpage=73|date=30 December 1966|accessdate=2008-09-02] and Commandant of the Army Air Corps. On 5 August 1968 he became Director, Military Assistance Overseas, back at the Ministry of Defence, [LondonGazette|issue=44661|supp=yes|startpage=9349|date=27 August 1968|accessdate=2008-09-04] [LondonGazette|issue=44819|supp=yes|startpage=3453|date=28 March 1969|accessdate=2008-09-04] stepping down on 15 May 1969. [LondonGazette|issue=44850|supp=yes|startpage=5256|date=16 May 1969|accessdate=2008-09-04] He was then appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College of Science on 10 July 1969, [LondonGazette|issue=44895|supp=yes|startpage=7284|date=11 July 1969|accessdate=2008-09-04] and in the 1971 New Year Honours was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB), [LondonGazette|issue=45262|supp=yes|startpage=2|endpage=3|date=31 December 1970|accessdate=2008-09-04] he relinquished the post on 1 Ocotber 1971. [LondonGazette|issue=45493|supp=yes|startpage=10969|date=11 October 1971|accessdate=2008-09-04] It was widely expected that given his technical background he would become Master-General of the Ordnance; but his command experience was equally strong and as a result, on promotion to lieutenant-general on 1 November 1971 (with seniority from 2 February 1971), he was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Army Strategic Command, [LondonGazette|issue=45510|supp=yes|startpage=11850|date=1 November 1971|accessdate=2008-09-04] and in the 1972 New Year Honours was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). [LondonGazette|issue=45554|supp=yes|startpage=2|date=31 December 1971|accessdate=2008-09-04] The home commands were abolished in 1972, and so on 1 April King became Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the new UK Land Forces, subordinate to General Sir Basil Eugster, the Commander-in-Chief, [LondonGazette|issue=45636|supp=yes|startpage=4017|date=30 March 1972|accessdate=2008-09-04] he stepped down on 15 January 1973. [LondonGazette|issue=45880|supp=yes|startpage=711|date=16 January 1973|accessdate=2008-09-04]

Northern Ireland

On 1 February 1973 King succeeded Sir Harry Tuzo as GOC Northern Ireland and Director of Operations. [LondonGazette|issue=45899|supp=yes|startpage=1680|date=5 February 1973|accessdate=2008-09-04] This was the worst period of the Troubles, nearly 12,000 bombing and shooting incidents had occurred the year before King's appointment, but by the end of his period in command, the figure was down to just under 2,500 a year.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. 57, 58, 104, 108
isbn = 0-7171-2081-3 ] His obituary in "The Times" states that he "was regarded by many as the best and most successful Director of Operations in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s", though it also notes that he himself would be happy to attribute much of the preparatory work to Tuzo (who has been described in similar terms). [cite web|first=Toby|last=Harnden|authorlink=Toby Harnden|title=Tuzo, Sir Harry Craufurd (1917–1998)|work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/70774|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/70774|accessdate=2008-09-03] His success was attributable to a number of factors: he regularly visited the troops on the ground which gave him a good picture of the difficulties faced in particular areas; once a unit or commander had proved itself, he was happy to delegate considerable authority, in particular to his immediate subordinate, Commander Land Forces (Sir) Peter Leng; he had a good relationship with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Merlyn Rees, who said of King "You have never played at politics and I have never played at being a soldier; that's why we have got on so well." He was replaced in the post by Lieutenant-General Sir David House on 1 August 1975. [LondonGazette|issue=46651|supp=yes|startpage=9952|date=5 August 1975|accessdate=2008-09-04] King was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1976 New Year Honours. [LondonGazette|issue=46777|supp=yes|startpage=2|date=30 December 1975|accessdate=2008-09-04]

Later career and retirement

On 20 January 1976, King was granted local rank as general, and appointed Commander NATO Northern Army Group and Commander-in-Chief British Army of the Rhine, again succeeding Tuzo. [LondonGazette|issue=46800|supp=yes|startpage=908|date=20 January 1976|accessdate=2008-09-04] He was promoted to substantive general on 16 March 1976 (with seniority from 1 September 1975). [LondonGazette|issue=46850|supp=yes|startpage=3951|date=15 March 1976|accessdate=2008-09-04] He delivered the Kermit Roosevelt lectures in the United States' staff colleges in 1977, and relinquished his appointment on 30 September 1978, [LondonGazette|issue=47664|supp=yes|startpage=12318|date=16 October 1978|accessdate=2008-09-04] and retired from the army on 27 December 1978.LondonGazette|issue=47745|supp=yes|startpage=651|date=15 January 1979|accessdate=2008-09-04]

In addition to his command roles, King held the largely honorary appointments of colonel commandant of the Army Air Corps from 1 November 1974 to 1 January 1980, [LondonGazette|issue=46464|supp=yes|startpage=507|date=14 January 1975|accessdate=2008-09-05] [LondonGazette|issue=48080|supp=yes|startpage=1442|date=28 January 1980|accessdate=2008-09-05] and of Aide de Camp General to the Queen from 1977 to his retirement.

Following his retirement from the army, he served as a director and company chairman for a variety of firms, was chairman of the Arnhem Veterans' Association, and kept in close contact with the Parachute Regiment. [LondonGazette|issue=53260|supp=yes|startpage=5613|endpage=5614|date=28 January 1980|accessdate=2008-09-05] He died on 30 March 1998, and was honoured with a memorial service at the Royal Garrison Church, Aldershot Garrison on 8 June 1998.Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=General Sir Frank King; Memorial services|author= |section=Features |day_of_week= |date=9 June 1998 |page_number=24 |page_numbers= |issue= |column= ]

References

###@@@KEY@@@###
-