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 Robert Alan Pascoe, (born 21 February 1932) is a retired

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 served as

Adjutant-General to the Forces The Adjutant-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Adjutant-General (AG), was for just over 250 years one of the most senior officers in the British Army. The AG was latterly responsible for developing the Army's personnel polic ...

from 1988 to 1990.

Army career

Educated at Tavistock Grammar School and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Pascoe was commissioned into the

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1958, serving in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. The regiment was formed as a consequence of th ...

in 1952.Who's Who 2009 He served with the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry in the

Suez Canal Zone The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest of Egypt). The c ...

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

and in 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 ...

; including with the

1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) The 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) was an infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1958 to 1966. The regiment served in the Cyprus Emergency, Brunei Revolt, Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and West Berlin. The regiment formed ...

from November 1958 to May 1959. Following which he served in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

where he learned

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. He served with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets in the United Kingdom and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

from 1964 to 1966, and was

mentioned in despatches 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 ...

when serving in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

in 1966. He was appointed a

Member 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 1968, when commanding a company of the 1st Battalion

Royal Green Jackets The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division (the other being The Light Infantry). History The Royal Green Jackets was formed on 1 January 1966 by the amalgam ...

in the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. Pascoe commanded the 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets in the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

(BAOR) and on two tours in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

from 1971 to 1974, and was

in Northern Ireland in 1974. He went on to command 5 Field Force in BAOR from 1976 to 1979. While attending the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

in 1979 he was sent to Northern Ireland to work on special duty with Sir

Maurice Oldfield Sir Maurice Oldfield (16 November 1915 – 11 March 1981) was a British intelligence officer and espionage administrator. He served as the seventh director of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), from 1973 to 1978. Early life Oldfield was b ...

(former Head of MI6). He was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 1980, Chief of Staff UKLF at Wilton, in 1983,

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 ...

in 1985, and became 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 ...

that same year. He was promoted to

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 ...

in 1988 on appointment to the role of Adjutant General, from which post he retired in 1990. His honorary posts included being

Colonel Commandant Colonel commandant is a military title used in the armed forces of some English-speaking countries. The title, not a substantive military rank, could denote a senior colonel with authority over fellow colonels. Today, the holder often has an honor ...

of the 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets from 1986 to 1991 and ADC General to HM The Queen from 1989 to 1991.

Later career

Pascoe was involved with several charities, including the Regular Forces Employment Association, and the Retired Officers Association and he was Vice President of The Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation which provided assistance to widows and orphans of members of the armed forces. He successfully arranged for this charity to be taken over by SSAFA in 2011. He is currently

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of The Veterans Charity, a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

initially set up in 2008 as Project 65 to mark the 65th

Anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

with a memorial to the men of the coup de main force under Major John Howard of the 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry who captured the two bridges later named "Pegasus" and "Horsa" on the left flank of the British landing zone. The memorial was unveiled on D-Day 2009 by General Sir Richard Dannatt, then Chief of the General Staff and four Veterans of the operation. The Veterans Charity now provides immediate needs support to Veterans facing hardship and organizes The Forces March every year to raise funds.

Personal life

Pascoe married Pauline Myers on 28 December 1955 in Tavistock. They had four children: a son, Richard, and three daughters, Philippa, Hilary, Joanna. Lady Pascoe died on 8 March 2013. General Pascoe married Mrs Alison Masters on Saturday 10 December 2016 in Marylebone, London.

References

External links

Burke's Peerage

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pascoe, Robert British Army generals Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers Royal Green Jackets officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 1932 births Living people Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) British Army personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies