Derek Boorman
British Army general (1930–2025)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lieutenant-General Sir Derek Boorman KCB (13 September 1930 – 25 April 2025) was a British Army officer.
Sir Derek Boorman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 September 1930 |
| Died | 25 April 2025 (aged 94) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Service years | 1950−1988 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Service number | 411897 |
| Unit | North Staffordshire Regiment |
| Commands | 51st Brigade Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath |
Military career
Educated at Wolstanton Grammar School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,[1] Boorman was commissioned into the North Staffordshire Regiment in 1950.[2] He was Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General at Headquarters 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade and subsequently Commander of 51st Brigade in Hong Kong.[3]
He was appointed Director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence in 1980[4] and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong in 1982.[5] He went on to be Chief of Defence Intelligence in 1985:[6] in that capacity he took the view that Mikhail Gorbachev's proposals for internal reform and deep cuts in missile stocks were genuine.[7] He retired from the British Army in 1988.[8]
He was also Colonel of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles from 1983 to 1988[9] and Colonel of the Staffordshire Regiment from 1985 to 1990.[10]
Retirement and death
In October 1992 he was appointed a Member of the Government's Security Commission[11] and in 1996 he accused Government Ministers of being untruthful in their evidence to the Arms to Iraq Inquiry.[12] He retired from the Security Commission in 1998.[13]
In 1994 he became Chairman of the Royal Hospitals Trust – a post he held until 1998.[14] Then in 2000 he became a Deputy Pro-Chancellor of the University of Kent.[15]
Boorman died on 25 April 2025, at the age of 94.[16]