General 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 ...

Sir Peter William Cradock Hellings, (6 September 1916 – 2 November 1990) was a

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

officer who served as

Commandant General Royal Marines Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General (United Kingdom), General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of Brigadier ( ...

from 1968 to 1971.

Military career

Hellings joined the

in 1935 and 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 ...

as a company commander with

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within UK Commando Force, the principal Commando formation, under the operational command of the Fleet Commander. Their barracks are at Norton Manor ...

,Sir Peter William Cradock Hellings
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives being awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

in 1940 and the

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

during the fighting in Italy in 1943. He was also

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in 1946 in recognition of his "gallant and distinguished services in North West Europe" during the closing stages of the war. Shortly after the end of the war, Hellings commanded

41 Commando 41 Commando or No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando was a unit of the Royal Marines trained as Commandos during the Second World War. They were part of the all Royal Marine 4th Special Service Brigade that took part in the Normandy landings in June ...

and

42 Commando 42 Commando is a unit within the UK Commando Force. Based at Norton Manor, Royal Marines Condor and 42 Commando are based at Bickleigh Barracks, Plymouth. Personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. All Roya ...

. He saw active service in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

in the early 1950s during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

, and in Cyprus during the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between April 1955 and March 1959. The National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), a Greek Cypriot right-wing nationalist guerrilla organisation, began an armed campaign in s ...

, for which he was mentioned in despatches in 1958. He was appointed

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, 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 give ...

in 1958, commander of

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

in 1959 and commander of the Infantry Training Centre Royal Marines in 1960. He went on to be Deputy Director of the Joint Warfare School in 1963, Chief of Staff to the

in 1964 and Commander Portsmouth Group Royal Marines in 1967. His last appointment was as Commandant General Royal Marines in 1968 before retiring in November 1971. In retirement Hellings became Chairman of the Gas Consumers' Council for the South West,Gas Consumers' Councils (Chairmanship)
Hansard, 15 February 1973 and lived at

Milton Combe Milton Combe is a village in Devon approximately from Yelverton, Devon, Yelverton and from the city of Plymouth. The name ''Milton Combe'' is derived from the village's historic name, first mentioned in 1249, of 'Mile Cumbe' literally meanin ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellings, Peter 1916 births 1990 deaths Royal Marines generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Military Cross British military personnel of the Malayan Emergency Royal Marines personnel of World War II British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames People from Kingston upon Thames