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 Richard Edward Worsley, (29 May 1923 – 23 February 2013) was a senior

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 An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

who fought 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 ...

and later commanded 1st (British) Corps.

Early life

Worsley was born on 29 May 1923 at Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland, the son of Herbert Henry Knight Worsley, JP (1885–1947) of Lough House, Grey Abbey, County Down, by Rose Austen (died 30 April 1958), only daughter of John Alfred Hives of Upper Plain, Masterton, New Zealand, farmer, and widow of Major Meyrick Myler Magrath, DSO, Royal Field Artillery, of Dorking House, Cosham, Hampshire. He was educated at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

. His uncles were the first-class cricket batsmen A. E. Worsley and C. E. A. Worsley, who both played for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

Military career

During the

Worsley was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

in 1942. He served in the Middle East and Italy. After the war he then served in 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 ...

in 1948.Debrett's People of Today 1974 He became an instructor at 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 ...

later in 1948 and then became

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 ...

(CO) of the

1st The Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalg ...

in 1962. He took command of the

7th Armoured Brigade Seventh is the ordinal number (linguistics), ordinal form of the number 7, seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"T ...

in 1965 and

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Far East Land Forces The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), and secondly, 1963–1971 succeeded b ...

in 1969. He became

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 ...

(GOC) 3rd Division in 1972 and GOC 1st (British) Corps in 1976. His final appointment was as

Quartermaster-General to the Forces The Quartermaster-General to the Forces (QMG) is a senior general in the British Army. The post has become symbolic: the Ministry of Defence organisation charts since 2011 have not used the term "Quartermaster-General to the Forces"; they simply ...

in 1979; he retired in 1982. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1964 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1964 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1964 to celebra ...

and a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in the

1976 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 4 June 1976 for ...

. He was advanced to

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

in the

1982 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1982 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countrie ...

. He lived at

Goring Heath Goring Heath is a hamlet and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. The civil parish includes the villages of Whitchurch Hill and Crays Pond and some small hamlets. Goring Heath is centred southeast of Goring-on-Thames and ...

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a p ...

and died on 23 February 2013.

Personal life

He married on 6 May 1959 at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, to Sarah Anne "Sally", eldest daughter of Brigadier J. A. H. Mitchell of the British Embassy,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and they went on to have a son,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, and a daughter, Charlotte. On 7 Nov 1980, he married Caroline Carnegie, Duchess of Fife.''The Times'' 8 Nov 1980, p. 16

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Worsley, Richard 1923 births 2013 deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency British Army personnel of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Radley College 1st The Royal Dragoons officers Rifle Brigade officers Academics of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Military personnel from County Down