Page 230 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

HE MADE AN ART FORM OF LATERAL THINKING AND DELIGHTED IN SUGGESTING CONTRARIAN SOLUTIONS
Obituaries
Major General C T Shortis CB CBE Colin Shortis joined The Royal Norfolk Regiment as a National Service soldier, aged 17, in 1951 and was commis- sioned into the Royal Fusiliers in 1953 before being persuaded to transfer to the Dorset Regiment two years later.
After a period instructing infantry platoon commanders at Warminster, he attended Staff College in 1966 and was subsequently posted to ASD 2 before re-joining his Regiment as a company commander. Following very successful tours of duty as a company commander in Belfast and South Armagh in 1971 and 1972, he was tasked with estab- lishing the Northern Ireland Training and Advisory team (NITAT). His success in this role was recog- nised with the award of an MBE. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and assumed command of The Devon and Dorsets in 1974. After a spell of Public Duties and an emergency deployment to the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area in Cyprus following the Turkish invasion, the focus soon switched to Northern Ireland with deployment to Belfast in January 1977. Very much on familiar territory, he continued to innovate, notably by deploying protracted Observation Patrols, employing cameras for evidential purposes. And so the Close Obser- vation Platoon concept was created - the product of his vision as well as his knowledge of equipment and insurgent tactics. He was advanced to OBE at the end of the tour.
After a matter of months as a member of the Directing Staff at Camberley his success as a commander in Ulster was recognised by his promotion directly to brigadier and appointment as Brigade Commander of 8th Infantry Brigade where he was particularly effective in partnership with the RUC at a key time, when their lead in counter-ter- rorism in the Province was being re-established. After two years in Londonderry he was appointed CBE.
A year at the Royal College of Defence Studies was followed by a posting to Zimbabwe as a Major General to command the British Military Advisory and Training Team who were assisting with the formation and training of the Zimbabwe National Army. In 1983 he assumed the appointment of Director of Infantry which he undertook with his customary vigour and far-sightedness in the immediate post-Falklands era.
His nal appointment in the Army was as General Of cer Commanding North West District, based in Preston, where he was able to focus his interest and support on the Territorial Army and Cadet units among whom his enthusiasm and energy were infectious. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and retired on 1st May 1989.
Major General Shortis was Colonel of the Regiment for 51⁄2 years from December 1984 - May 1990. During his tenure as Colonel, the Regiment celebrated its 300th Anniversary in 1985; the 4th Battalion was established in 1987 and his strategic
Lt Col Colin Shortis meeting the then Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher, in Belfast, 1977
228 REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS
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