John Stanier (British Army officer)

2025-06-29T21:31:21Z

82.14.206.78: /* Military career */Fixed typo

{{Short description|British Army officer (1925–2007)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]]
| name = Sir John Stanier
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|MBE}}
| image = John Wilfred Stanier.jpg
| image_size = 150px
| alt =
| caption = Field Marshal Sir John Stanier
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|10|06|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Sawbridgeworth]], [[Hertfordshire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|11|10|1925|10|06|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Hartley Wintney]], [[Hampshire]], England
| placeofburial =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears = 1943–1985
| rank = [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]]
| servicenumber = 365443
| unit =
| commands = [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the General Staff]] [[Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces|UK Land Forces]] [[Staff College, Camberley]] [[1st (United Kingdom) Division|1st Division]] [[20th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|20th Armoured Brigade]] [[Royal Scots Greys]]
| battles = [[Second World War]]
| awards = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]]
| relations =
| laterwork = [[Constable of the Tower|Constable of the Tower of London]] (1990–1996)
}}
[[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] '''Sir John Wilfred Stanier''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|MBE}} (6 October 1925 – 10 November 2007) was a senior [[British Army]] officer who served as [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the General Staff]] from 1982 to 1985. He was the first person after the [[Second World War]] to become the professional head of the British Army without having seen active service in that war or any subsequent campaign.

==Early life and education==
Stanier was born in [[Sawbridgeworth]], [[Hertfordshire]], the son of Harold Allan Stanier and Penelope Rose Stanier (née Price).<ref name=tele>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1569158/Field-Marshal-Sir-John-Stanier.html |title=Obituary: Field Marshal Sir John Stanier|date=13 November 2007|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=23 December 2011}}</ref> His father was badly wounded in the [[World War I|First World War]], but was employed by [[John Spedan Lewis]] to manage his farms.<ref name=inde>{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3157766.ece|title=Obituary: Field Marshal Sir John Stanier|newspaper=The Independent|date=14 November 2007|access-date=23 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114233855/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3157766.ece|archive-date=14 November 2007}}</ref> He was educated at [[Marlborough College]]<ref name=pg269>Heathcote, Anthony pg 269</ref> and took a short wartime course at [[Merton College, Oxford]].<ref name=tele/><ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900–1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=343}}</ref>

==Military career==
[[File:Marlborough College Court.jpg|thumb|left|Marlborough College where Stanier was educated]]

Stanier volunteered for the Army in 1943, and having trained at [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|Sandhurst]] and [[Bovington]],<ref name=tele/> was commissioned into the [[7th Queen's Own Hussars]] on 19 April 1946.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37580|supp=y|page=2548|date=24 May 1946}}</ref> Promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 16 October 1948,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38430|supp=y|page=5437|date=12 October 1948}}</ref> he served with the intelligence branch in [[Italy]] in 1949 before being posted to the [[British Army of the Rhine]] in 1950.<ref name=tele/> He was promoted to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on 6 October 1952<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=39662|supp=y|page=5263|date=3 October 1952}}</ref> and became an instructor at the [[Mons Officer Cadet School]] in [[Aldershot]] in April 1954, before attending the [[Staff College, Camberley]] in 1957.<ref name=pg269/> Following the merger of his regiment with the [[3rd The King's Own Hussars]], he became an officer in the [[Queen's Own Hussars]] in 1958<ref name=pg269/> and was posted to the Directorate of Military Operations at the [[War Office]], before being appointed military assistant to [[William Stratton (British Army officer)|Sir William Stratton]], Vice-Chief of the [[Imperial General Staff]] in July 1959.<ref name=tele/> Promoted to [[Major (rank)|major]] on 6 October 1959,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41834|supp=y|page=6267|date=2 October 1959}}</ref> he was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] in the [[New Year Honours]] 1961.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=42231|supp=y|page=8895|date=27 December 1960}}</ref> He attended the [[Joint Service Defence College|Joint Services Staff College]] and, from 1962, commanded the tanks in "C" Squadron of his regiment in Germany,<ref name=tele/> before returning to Camberley as Director of Studies in 1963.<ref name=tele/>
[[File:Staff College, Camberley.jpg|thumb|left|Stanier served as Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley]]
Stanier was not selected to command the Queen's Own Hussars.<ref name=tele/> Disappointed, he considered leaving the Army,<ref name=tele/> but was pleasantly surprised, having transferred to the [[Royal Scots Greys]] on 1 January 1966,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=43852|supp=y|page=12221|date=28 December 1965}}</ref> to be promoted to [[lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-colonel]] on 2 May 1966<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44069|supp=y|page=8605|date=29 July 1966}}</ref> and made [[commanding officer]] of the Royal Scots Greys.<ref name=pg269/> He joined the staff of the [[Royal College of Defence Studies|Imperial Defence College]] in December 1968,<ref name=pg269/> and was then promoted two ranks to [[brigadier]] on 31 December 1969<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=45013|supp=y|page=215|date=5 January 1970}}</ref> and took command of [[20th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|20th Armoured Brigade]] in the [[British Army of the Rhine]] in January 1970.<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080911023433/http://www.army.mod.uk/20bde/bde_comd.htm 20th Armoured Brigade list of commanders]</ref> After serving as the Army's director of public relations in London from 1971, he was appointed [[General Officer Commanding]] [[1st (United Kingdom) Division|1st Division]] on 3 November 1973<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=46120|supp=y|page=13177|date=5 November 1973}}</ref> with the substantive rank of [[Major General (United Kingdom)|major-general]] from 21 January 1974.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=46188|supp=y|page=847|date=21 January 1974}}</ref> He became Commandant at the [[Staff College, Camberley]] on 22 December 1975.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=46769|supp=y|page=16296|date=23 December 1975}}</ref>

He was appointed a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] in the [[Queen's Birthday Honours]] 1978,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=47549|supp=y|page=6230|date=2 June 1978}}</ref> and became [[Vice Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Vice Chief of the General Staff]]<ref name="page270">Heathcote, Anthony pg 270</ref> with the rank of [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|lieutenant general]] on 1 June 1978.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=47566|supp=y|page=7133|date=12 June 1978}}</ref> The [[Challenger 1|Challenger tank]] was brought into service during his period in this post.<ref name=tele/> Promoted to full [[general]] on 1 January 1981, he was made [[Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces|Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces]] in April 1981.<ref name="page270"/> He became [[ADC General]] to [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]] from 7 April 1981,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=48589|supp=y|page=5767|date=16 April 1981}}</ref> was advanced to [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] in the [[Queen's Birthday Honours]] 1982<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=49008|supp=y|page=2|date=11 June 1982}}</ref> and became [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the General Staff]] on 1 August 1982.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=49069|supp=y|page=10134|date=2 August 1982}}</ref> He was the first person after the [[Second World War]] to become the professional head of the [[British Army]] without having seen active service in that war or any subsequent campaign.<ref name=tele/> He was promoted to [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|field marshal]] on 10 July 1985<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=50226|supp=y|page=11147|date=12 August 1985}}</ref> on retirement from the British Army.<ref name="page270"/>

He was also Colonel of the [[Royal Scots Dragoon Guards]] from 18 January 1979<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=47752|supp=y|page=987|date=22 January 1979}}</ref> to 6 May 1984,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=49735|supp=y|page=6805|date=14 May 1984}}</ref> and Colonel Commandant of the [[Royal Armoured Corps]] from 1 April 1982<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=48964|supp=y|page=5649|date=26 April 1982}}</ref> to 1 August 1985.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=50233|supp=y|page=11483|date=19 August 1985}}</ref>

In retirement he served as chairman of the [[Royal United Service Institution]] from 1986 to 1989.<ref name=tele/> He was [[Constable of the Tower|Constable of the Tower of London]] from 1990 to 1996.<ref name=tele/> His book ''War and the Media'', co-authored with Miles Hudson, was published in 1997.<ref name=tele/> He was a [[Deputy Lieutenant]] of [[Hampshire]] from 1987, and lived near [[Hartley Wintney]].<ref name=tele/>

His interests included [[fly fishing]], [[sailing]] and [[Equestrianism|horse riding]] and he was also President of the Hampshire branch of the [[British Red Cross|British Red Cross Society]] from 1986 to 1994.<ref name=tele/> He was also a Member of the Council of [[Marlborough College]].<ref name=tele/> He died on 10 November 2007.<ref name=tele/>

==Family==
In 1955 he married Cicely Constance Lambert; they had four daughters.<ref name=tele/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Heathcote|title=The British Field Marshals 1736–1997|publisher=Pen and Sword Books|location=Barnsley (UK)|year=1999|isbn=0-85052-696-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Hudson|first=M.|last2=Stanier|first2=J.|year=1998|title=War and the Media|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-3580-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/warmediarandomse0000huds}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080708235955/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2858878.ece Obituary], ''[[The Times]]'', 13 November 2007

{{s-start}}
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|-
{{s-hon}}
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{{end}}

{{Chief of the General Staff}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanier, John}}
[[Category:British field marshals]]
[[Category:7th Queen's Own Hussars officers]]
[[Category:Royal Scots Greys officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Falklands War]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:Chiefs of the General Staff (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:People from Sawbridgeworth]]
[[Category:Constables of the Tower of London]]
[[Category:Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Hertfordshire]]

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John Stanier (British Army officer)