David House

For other uses, see David House (disambiguation).

Sir David House
Born	8 August 1922 (1922-08-08) (age 89)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1941–1977
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Unit	King's Royal Rifle Corps The Royal Green Jackets
Commands held	1st Green Jackets (43rd & 52nd) 51st Gurkha Brigade GOC Northern Ireland
Battles/wars	Indonesian Confrontation Northern Ireland
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) Military Cross (MC)
Other work	Black Rod

Lieutenant General Sir David George House GCB, KCVO, CBE, MC (born 8 August 1922) was a British Army officer who was General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and later held the office of Black Rod.

Regimental career

He was educated at Regent's Park School in London, and on leaving school entered the Army.^[1] He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps on 23 August 1941.^[2] He served in the Italian Campaign, where he won the Military Cross in 1944.^[1] In 1947, he was promoted to Lieutenant,^[3] and to Captain in 1949.^[4]

He was made OBE on 1 January 1964.^[5]

He commanded the 1st Green Jackets (43rd & 52nd) at Penang between 1964 and 1965, and was mentioned in despatches in June 1965.^[6] He was promoted to Colonel on 3 November 1965.^[7]

Senior command

From 1965 to 1967 he commanded 51st Gurkha Brigade in Borneo, during the Indonesian Confrontation;^[1] he was promoted to Brigadier on 31 December 1966.^[8] From 1967 to 1969 he was chief of BRIXMIS,^[1] then from 1969 to 1971 he was Deputy Military Secretary, and from 1971 to 1973 Deputy Chief of Staff of the British Army of the Rhine.^[1]

He was promoted to Major-General on 9 June 1971.^[9] He left the post of Chief of Staff on 13 August 1973.^[10] He was appointed Director of Infantry on 21 September 1973,^[11] and left the post on 27 May 1975.^[12] He was made KCB on 14 June 1975.^[13]

He succeeded Sir Frank King as GOC Northern Ireland on 1 August 1975,^[14] and was concurrently promoted to Lieutenant-General.^[15] His time in command was marked by the ending of a Provisional IRA ceasefire in January 1976, and a resulting upsurge of violence.^[16] He was replaced by Timothy Creasey on 1 November 1977.^[14][17] He was made GCB on 11 June 1977.^[18]

He was Colonel-Commandant of the Light Division from 1974^[1] until 1 November 1977,^[19] and of the Small Arms School Corps from 1974^[1] until 1 September 1977.^[20]

House retired from active service on 30 December 1977.^[21] In 1978 he was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, a ceremonial post in the House of Lords, an office which he held until 1985.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Who's Who 2008. [160th edition] A&C Black: London, 2008.
2. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 35262. p. 5019. 29 August 1941. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
3. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37933. p. 1715. 15 April 1947. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
4. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 38740. p. 5010. 21 October 1949. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
5. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43200. p. 7. 31 December 1963. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
6. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43689. p. 5970. 18 June 1965. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
7. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43890. p. 1249. 1 February 1966. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
8. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 44238. p. 1155. 27 January 1967. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
9. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45396. p. 6312. 14 June 1971. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
10. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46056. p. 10048. 21 August 1973. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
11. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46085. p. 11399. 24 September 1973. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
12. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46582. p. 6830. 23 May 1975. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
13. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46593. p. 7370. 6 June 1975. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
14. ^ ^{a b} Bew, Paul; Gordon Gillespie (1993). Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles, 1968-1993. Gill & Macmillan. pp. 104, 124. ISBN 0-7171-2081-3. 
15. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46651. p. 9952. 5 August 1975. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
16. ^ Biography at CAIN
17. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47371. p. 14022. 7 November 1977. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
18. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47234. p. 7081. 10 June 1977. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
19. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47364. p. 13731. 31 October 1977. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
20. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47316. p. 11396. 5 September 1977. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
21. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47432. p. 309. 10 January 1978. Retrieved 2008-09-01.

Military offices
Preceded by Frank King	General Officer Commanding the British Army in Northern Ireland 1975–1977	Succeeded by Timothy Creasey
Government offices
Preceded by Frank Twiss	Black Rod 1978–1985	Succeeded by John Gingell

Persondata
Name	House, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	8 August 1922
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death