Michael J. H. Walsh

Michael Walsh
Born	1927 Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1944-1981
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	3rd Armoured Division
Battles/wars	Suez Crisis Aden Emergency
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order

Major-General Michael John Hatley Walsh CB DSO (born 1927) was a senior British Army officer and the Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories between 1982 and 1988.^[1]

Education

Walsh was educated at two independent schools: at Clifton House School in Harrogate, Yorkshire and at Sedbergh School in Cumbria, and was a member of the local Scout Troop. He attained the King's Scout Award with the added distinction of Gold Cords, indicating it as the highest award available in Scouting at the time.

Military career

Michael Walsh joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps as a rifleman in 1944 and was commissioned in 1945. He spent the winter of 1945 – 46 in northern Italy guarding against incursion by Josip Broz Tito’s partisans. After instructing at the Small Arms School and the Jungle Warfare School in Malaya, he was seconded to the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (known as “3 Para”) and went with them to Cyprus in 1956 as a company commander, where he took part in operations against EOKA insurgents.

In November 1956, the Suez Crisis had come to a head and 3 Para were tasked with capturing El Gamil airfield close to Port Said - part of Operation Musketeer. This was the first and last British operational parachute assault since World War II. Despite fierce opposition including tanks, the airfield was captured in 30 minutes.^[2] After various staff and training appointments, he returned to the role of company commander with 3 Para to take part in the 1964 campaign in the Radfan Mountains in Saudi Arabia. After promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel, he took command of 1 Para on an emergency tour to Aden in January 1967. The battalion was responsible for “Area North” for 7 months and were the last British battalion to withdraw.^[3] Walsh was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for various actions in June. The citation reads: “By his outstanding devotion to duty, personal bravery and exceptional powers of command, Lieutenant-Colonel Walsh contained the situation at Sheikh Othman whilst never departing from the principle of minimum force.”^[4]

Walsh then held staff appointments with British Army of the Rhine and 28th Commonwealth Brigade in Singapore. He was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence in 1973.^[5] Following promotion to Major-General he took command of 3rd Armoured Division in 1976 and was then appointed Director of Army Training in 1978 retiring in 1981.^[6]

He was Knight President of the London-based Society of Knights of the Round Table from 1988 until 1995.^[7]

References

1. ^ "Meet the Chiefs". The Scout Information Centre. October 2004. http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs295307.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-08. 
2. ^ Paradata: Operation Musketeer
3. ^ Paradata: Aden
4. ^ Paradata: Citations
5. ^ Army Commands
6. ^ Paradata: Michael J. H. Walsh
7. ^ Who's Who. A & C Black. January 2007. 

Military offices
Preceded by Robin Carnegie	General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division 1976–1978	Succeeded by Henry Dalzell-Payne
The Scout Association
Preceded by Sir William Gladstone	Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories 1982 – 1988	Succeeded by Garth Morrison

Persondata
Name	Walsh, Michael J.H.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1927
Place of birth	Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Date of death
Place of death