Derek Boorman

Lieutenant-General Sir Derek Boorman KCB (born 30 September 1930) is a retired former senior British Army officer.

Sir Derek Boorman
Born	30 September 1930
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Commands held	51st Brigade Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Military career

Educated at Wolstanton Grammar School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,[1] Boorman was commissioned into the North Staffordshire Regiment in 1950.[2] He was Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General at Headquarters 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade and subsequently Commander of 51st Brigade in Hong Kong.[3]

He was appointed Director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence in 1980[4] and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong in 1982.[5] He went on to be Chief of Defence Intelligence in 1985:[6] in that capacity he took the view that the Mikhail Gorbachev's proposals for internal reform and deep cuts in missile stocks were genuine.[7] He retired from the British Army in 1988.[8]

He was also Colonel of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles from 1983 to 1988[9] and Colonel of the Staffordshire Regiment from 1985 to 1990.[10]

Retirement

In October 1992 he was appointed a Member of the Government's Security Commission[11] and in 1996 he accused Government Ministers of being untruthful in their evidence to the Arms to Iraq Inquiry.[12] He retired from the Security Commission in 1998.[13]

In 1994 he became Chairman of the Royal Hospitals Trust - a post he held until 1998.[14] Then in 2000 he became a Deputy Pro-Chancellor of the University of Kent.[15]

References

1. Debrett's People of Today 1994
2. "No. 39017". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 September 1950. p. 4637.
3. 6th Gurkhas History 1977-1994
4. "No. 48108". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 February 1980. p. 3032.
5. "No. 49156". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 November 1982. p. 14262.
6. "No. 50279". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 October 1985. p. 13872.
7. Obituary: Sir Antony Duff The Guardian, 18 August 2000
8. "No. 51543". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 November 1988. p. 13389.
9. "No. 49344". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 May 1983. p. 6324.
10. "The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
11. MI5 / MI6 History
12. Intelligence chief accuses ministers over Scott report The Independent, 10 February 1996
13. Butlerslossed
14. Bats, the General and the Fat Controller British Medical Journal, 1995
15. University of Kent