Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Sir Charles Douglas Packard, (17 May 1903 – 2000) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who achieved high office in the 1950s.

Military career

After graduating from the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

, Packard was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

on 29 August 1923.

Orde Wingate Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindits, Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory duri ...

and

Richard Goodbody General Sir Richard Wakefield Goodbody, (12 April 1903 – 29 April 1981) was a senior British Army officer who served as Adjutant General from 1960 to 1963. Military career Educated at Rugby School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Ri ...

were among his fellow graduates, both of whom also rose to

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

's rank.Sir Charles Douglas Packard
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 29 August 1925. Packard served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the Middle East and Italy, becoming commander of the

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the armoured field artillery role, and was equipped with the AS90 self-propelled gun, until it was retired from service ...

in 1942, commander Royal Artillery for the Tenth Army Group in 1943 and commander Royal Artillery for the 78th Division later in 1944. He was them appointed commander of the

36th Infantry Brigade The 36th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of British Army that fought in the First World War, as part of 12th (Eastern) Division, on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front. The brigade also fought in the Second World War, ...

also in 1944 and Deputy Chief of Staff for the

15th Army Group The 15th Army Group was an army group in World War II, composed of the British Eighth Army and initially the Seventh United States Army (1943), replaced by the Fifth United States Army (from January 1944), which apart from units from across the Br ...

in 1945. He was promoted to the acting rank of major general on 11 September 1945, shortly after the war ended. After the war Packard was appointed Chief of Staff for the British Element of the

Allied Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany, Italy and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far ...

for Austria before becoming Director of Military Intelligence at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in 1948. He was made commander of the British Military Mission to Greece in 1949 and Chief of Staff

Middle East Land Forces Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

in 1951. He became Vice Quartermaster General at the

in 1953 and Military Advisor to West African Governments in 1956. He went on to be

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

Northern Ireland District in 1958 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief,

Northern Ireland Command HQ Northern Ireland was the formation responsible for the British Army in and around Northern Ireland. It was established in 1922 and disbanded, replaced by a brigade-level Army Reserve formation, 38 (Irish) Brigade, in 2009. History Ireland was ...

in 1959. He retired in 1961.

Retirement

In 1962 Packard advised

Edgar Whitehead Sir Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead, (8 February 1905 – 22 September 1971) was a Rhodesian politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1958 to 1962. He had a long and varied political career, serving ...

, Prime Minister of

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

, on certain matters relating to the

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' Britis ...

then operating in Rhodesia.So far and no further: Rhodesia's bid for independence during the retreat from Empire 1959 to 1965 By J. R. T. Wood, Page 47
Trafford Publishing, 2005

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Packard, Douglas 1903 births 2000 deaths Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British Army lieutenant generals Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Artillery officers British Army brigadiers of World War II