Chandos Blair
Sir Chandos Blair | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1939–1976 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands | 4th Btn King's African Rifles 2nd Division Scotland |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Officer of the Order of the British Empire Military Cross & Bar |
Lieutenant General Sir Chandos Blair KCVO OBE MC & Bar (25 February 1919 – 22 January 2011) was General Officer Commanding Scotland.
Military career
Educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Blair was commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders in 1939.[1] He served in World War II with the 2nd and 7th Battalions of his regiment.[1] His regiment was forced to surrender at Dunkirk, and he became a prisoner of war at the Oflag V-B camp at Biberach in Baden-Württemberg.[2] He escaped to Switzerland and from there to Spain and to Gibraltar. Blair was awarded the Military Cross for his exploits.[2]
In 1959, he was appointed Commanding Officer of the 4th Bn the King's African Rifles.[1] He was made General Officer Commanding 2nd Division in British Army of the Rhine in 1968 and then became Defence Services Secretary in 1970.[1] His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding Scotland and Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1972; in that capacity, Prime Minister Harold Wilson dispatched him as a Special Envoy to secure the release of Denis Hills, a British subject held on spying charges by President Idi Amin of Uganda.[3] Blair retired in 1976.[1]
Family
In 1947 he married Audrey Mary Travers; they went on to have one son and one daughter.[1]
References
- 1919 births
- 2011 deaths
- Old Harrovians
- Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- People from East Lothian
- Seaforth Highlanders officers
- Recipients of the Military Cross and Bar
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British Army generals
- King's African Rifles officers