Field Marshal Sir Nigel Thomas Bagnall, (10 February 1927 – 8 April 2002) was

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

(CGS), the professional head of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, from 1985 to 1988. Early in his military career he saw action during the

Palestine Emergency A successful paramilitary campaign was carried out by Zionist underground groups against British rule in Mandatory Palestine from 1944 to 1948. The tensions between the Zionist underground and the British mandatory authorities rose from 1938 an ...

, the Malayan Emergency, the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency ( gr, Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–59), also known as the Greek Cypriot War of Independence or Cypriot War of Independence, was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between November 1 ...

and the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, and later in his career he provided advice to the British Government on the future role of Britain's

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Army career

Born the son of Lieutenant Colonel Harry Stephen Bagnall and Marjory May Bagnall and educated at Wellington College,Debrett's People of Today 1994 Bagnall undertook

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

for a year before being commissioned into the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

on 5 January 1946. Shortly afterwards, however, on 13 February 1946 he transferred to the Parachute Regiment and was deployed to Palestine where the British Mandate was about to end. Promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 24 September 1949, he served in Malaya, where as a platoon commander, he was awarded the

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in 1950, and a bar to the Military Cross in 1952. Promoted to captain on 10 February 1954, he returned to the Green Howards in summer 1954 and then took part in counter-insurgency operations against EOKA units in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

in 1955. He transferred to the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards on 24 April 1956. He was promoted to major on 10 February 1961 and appointed Military Assistant to the Vice-Chief of Defence Staff in May 1964 and then became the Senior Staff Officer dealing with intelligence activities for operations in

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in March 1966. Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 31 December 1966, he became the Commanding Officer of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards in 1967 and served in that capacity in

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and

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. Promoted to

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on 31 December 1969, he became Commander

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in 1st (British) Corps in December 1970, before receiving further promotion to

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on 31 December 1970. He went on to be Secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee at the Ministry of Defence in September 1973. He was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 4th Division on 21 September 1975 with the substantive rank of

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from 1 November 1975 and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy) at the Ministry of Defence on 7 January 1978. The Warrior of British Forces in Germany

The Warrior of British Forces in Germany

He became commander of 1st (British) Corps on 1 November 1980 with the rank of

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and, having been appointed a

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in the

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1981, went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the

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and Commander of

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Northern Army Group The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising four Western European Army Corps, during the Cold War as part of NATO's forward defence in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Army Group headquarters was established on ...

with the rank of

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on 1 July 1983. As Commander of the Northern Army Group he grappled with NATO's strategy of forward defence, when he persuaded the Germans that some ground would have to be surrendered to withstand a massive

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attack. and see also After being advanced to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1985 and also becoming ADC to

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on 30 July 1985, he was appointed

in August 1985 in which capacity he was closely involved in the debate about the future role of Britain's

s. He was promoted to field marshal on 9 September 1988 on his retirement from the British Army. He was also appointed Colonel Commandant of the Army Physical Training Corps on 5 February 1981 and Colonel Commandant of the

on 1 August 1985. In retirement he became a military historian and fellow of

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. He wrote a history of the Punic wars published in 1990 and, two years after his death, he had a history of the Peloponnesian War published. He died on 8 April 2002.

Family

In 1959 he married Anna Caroline Church; they had two daughters.

Historiographical works

* Bagnall, Nigel, ''The Punic Wars: Rome, Carthage and the Struggle for the Mediterranean'', London: Hutchinson, 1990, . * Bagnall, Nigel, ''The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta and the Struggle for Greece'', London: Pimlico, 2004, .

Army career

Family

Historiographical works

References

Further reading