Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Henry Desmond Allen Langley, (16 May 1930 – 14 February 2008) was a senior

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 Gur ...

officer who served as

Major-General commanding the Household Division The Major-General commanding the Household Division commands the Household Division of the British Army and is also the General Officer Commanding London District. In British Army parlance, "The Major-General" always refers to the Major-General ...

and General Officer Commanding London District from 1979 to 1983. He later served as the 132nd

Governor of Bermuda The Governor of Bermuda (fully the ''Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)'') is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this a ...

from 1988 to 1992.

Military career

Educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

, Langley was commissioned into the Life Guards in 1949.Obituary: Major-General Sir Desmond Langley
Daily Telegraph, 1 April 2008 He was posted to Egypt and then to Libya. He then served with HQ Far East Land Forces during the

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian language, Indonesian / Malay language, Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition t ...

in the early 1960s. He later became Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Regiment and Silver Stick to The Queen. In 1976 he was appointed

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

of 4th Guards Armoured Brigade and in 1978 he became a

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. In ...

on the General Staff at UK Land Forces. Langley became

and General Officer Commanding London District in 1979 organising, inter alia, the military ceremony for the marriage of the

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her a ...

.Obituary: Major-General Sir Desmond Langley
The Times, 7 March 2008 His final appointment was as commander of British Forces Cyprus and Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas in 1983 before retiring in 1988.

Later life

In retirement Langley was civil Governor and military Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda from 1988 to 1992, taking particular interest in the

Bermuda Regiment The Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR), formerly the Bermuda Regiment, is the home defence unit of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a single Territorial Army (United Kingdom), territorial infantry battalion#British Army, battalion tha ...

(now the ''Royal Bermuda Regiment'') and hosting summit meetings in Bermuda between Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

and US President George H. W. Bush, and then between Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...

and Bush. Among the mourners who attended Langley's funeral at St Luke's Church in Milland on 10 March 2008 were two former commanding officers of the Bermuda Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Alan Rance and Lieutenant Colonel David Burch, as well as two of Sir Desmond's three ADCs from the Bermuda Regiment, Major William Madeiros and Captain Larry Mussenden.

Family

In 1950 Langley married Felicity Oliphant; the couple had a son and a daughter.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Langley, Desmond 1930 births 2008 deaths British Life Guards officers Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Order of the British Empire British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Military personnel from London