Page 146 - Chronicle Vol 17

OBITUARIES
GENERAL SIR FRANK KITSON, GBE, KCB, MC AND BAR, DL
There are not many senior officers who have initiated and brought about a significant and lasting change in Army doctrine and practice.
General Sir Frank Kitson, who has died aged 97 in early January, is certainly one of them.
He is well remembered by all who served with him, first in the Rifle Brigade, which he joined after schooling at Stowe, and then in the Green Jackets where he became widely known for his inimitable style of leadership and decisive command. His name was also recognised throughout the Army at large as he rose through the
ranks to become Commander of 39 Brigade in Belfast and 2nd Armoured Division commander in Germany, culminating in his top job as Commander in Chief of all troops in the United Kingdom.
In his early days as a young officer in the Rifle Brigade based in Germany, he indulged his love of horses and he raced and rode in various Rhine Army events and hunts. He was also a keen shot.
Later as a Captain in Kenya and as a Major commanding his company in Malaya, Frank was decisive, hard-headed and practical but above all his novel approach to dealing with insurrection marked him out as an officer with a great future. His actions in Kenya earned him a Military Cross for his outstanding achievements against the Mau Mau and a second one, a Bar, for his successful jungle operations during the emergency in Malaya.
Much later, a year spent in Academia as a Defence Fellow at Oxford led to the publication of a book entitled “Low Intensity Operations” in which he highlighted the measures the Army should take to prepare for operations against subversion, insurrection and peacekeeping and this original work was eventually to influence the Army’s training and operational procedures.
His first book had been published in 1960, called “Gangs and Counter Gangs” it described his experiences during the Mau Mau campaign in Kenya.
Later on, he turned his attention to the task of peacekeeping in Cyprus and the much more demanding intelligence and operational problems he encountered in Northern Ireland when dealing with the IRA during the so called “Troubles”.
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