Henry Leask

Sir Henry Leask
Sir Henry Leask
Born	30 June 1913
Died	10 January 2004 (aged 90)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1936–1972
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Royal Scots Fusiliers
Commands held	8th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders; 1st Battalion, London Scottish; 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment; 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division; Scottish Command
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Distinguished Service Order; Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Lieutenant General Sir Henry Lowther Ewart Clark Leask KCB DSO OBE (30 June 1913 – 10 January 2004) was a senior British Army officer who served in World War II and held high command during the 1960s.

Military career

Henry Leask was commissioned into the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1936.[1]

He served in the Second World War becoming Commanding Officer of 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1944.[1] He won the DSO for on a three-mile dash to capture two bridges over the River Po at San Patrizio.[2]

After the War, in 1946, he was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st London Scottish and from 1947 he was in Military Operations Directorate at the War Office.[1] He then became Commanding Officer of 1st Parachute Regiment in 1952.[1] He was appointed Assistant Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War in 1955 and then from 1957 he was Commandant of the Tactical Wing of the School of Infantry.[1] In 1962, he became Deputy Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War.[1]

He was appointed General Officer Commanding 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division in 1964, and Director of Army Training at the Ministry of Defence in 1966.[1] He became General Officer Commanding Scottish Command and Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1969; he retired in 1972.[1]

In 1940, he married Zoe Paynter and together they went on to have one son and two daughters.[2]

gollark: See, that's particularly annoying, but just unpromptedly replying "ARE YOU DEAF" when you just say "what" is annoying too.

gollark: LASER BEES ACTIVATE

gollark: THAT IS BAD

gollark: NO

gollark: You are now officially declared bees.

"Leaske, Henry". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
Obituary: Lt Gen Sir Henry Leask The Times, 23 January 2004

Military offices
Preceded by John Frost	GOC 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division 1964–1966	Succeeded by Sir James Bowes-Lyon
Preceded by Sir Derek Lang	GOC-in-C Scottish Command 1969–1972	Succeeded by Sir Chandos Blair

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.