General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Peter John Hall Leng, (9 May 1925 – 11 February 2009) was a

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 Gurkha ...

General and Master-General of the Ordnance (1981–1983) & Counter Terrorism Expert in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

Military service

Leng was born in 1925 in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and went Bradfield College,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

.Obituary: Sir Peter Leng
The Times, 18 February 2009 He was commissioned into the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the E ...

in 1944. He was awarded a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

in April 1945 for his actions in Visselhövede in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Leng, as

Platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

officer, led forward a section and captured over 60 German

prisoners A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

. He was then wounded in May during the advance on

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. After the war he was appointed Military Assistant to the Chief of Defence Staff, Lord Mountbatten of Burma. He returned to the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards as its second in command in 1965, and was transferred to the

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating ...

in 1964 as

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 3rd battalion of the Regiment in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

within the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

. His battalion later moved to

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 peopl ...

where the security situation was deteriorating. After promotion to the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

, he commanded the

24th Airmobile Brigade The 24th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army from the First World War. It was reraised during the Second World War, as the 24th Infantry Brigade (Guards). During various designations, the brigade was active throughout t ...

. He moved to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in 1971 as deputy military secretary, and was appointed to Command of the British Army forces in

in 1973. When he left, bombings and other violence had dropped to a fifth of the level of when he arrived. In 1975 he became Director of Military Operations at the

and in 1978 he was asked to command the 1st (British) Corps in

. He won praise from

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

command and successfully executed Exercise Spearpoint. He became Master-General of the Ordnance in 1981. He retired from the Army in 1983 and became chairman of the Racecourse Association, during which time he was instrumental in securing the live broadcasting of races in betting shops.Former RCA chief Sir Peter Leng dies
Racing Post, 1 March 2009

Personal life

He first married Virginia Rosemary Pearson, dissolved in 1981. He then remarried to Flavia Tower, daughter of General Sir Frederick Browning and novelist Daphne de Maurier. His second wife survives him along with several children from his first marriage.

References

External links

Obituary: Daily Telegraph
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Leng, Peter John Hall 1925 births 2009 deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of World War II British military personnel of the Aden Emergency British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Bradfield College People from Sunderland Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Anglian Regiment officers Scots Guards officers Military personnel from County Durham