Frank Kitson

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General Sir Frank Kitson OBE, KCB, MC (born 1926) is a retired British Officer and counterinsurgency theorist. He rose to be Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces from 1982 to 1985 and was Aide-de-Camp General to the Queen from 1983 to 1985. In 1985 he became a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. He saw active service in counter revolutionary operations in post war colonial conflicts.

Career

  • Kenya 1951
  • Malaysia 1957
  • Oman 1958-1959
  • Cyprus 1962
  • Britain 1969-1987
  • Ireland 1970-1972

counterinsurgency theorist

His earlier published work on counter-gangs and measures of deception, including the use of defectors, continues to provoke strong opinions. Although sometimes wrongly credited with inventing concepts of pseudo-gangs and pseudo-operations (for example, used earlier in the Huk Insurrection[1] in the Philippines), his writing gave the issue a wider audience. In retirement he has given evidence to the Saville Inquiry[2] into Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland.

Selected bibliography

  • Gangs and Counter-gangs (1960), Barrie and Rockliff
  • Low Intensity Operations: Subversion, Insurgency and Peacekeeping (1971), Faber and Faber - reprint 1991 ISBN 0-571-16181-2
  • Bunch of Five (1977)
  • Prince Rupert: Admiral and General-at-sea (1998), Constable and Robinson
  • Old Ironsides: The Military Biography of Oliver Cromwell (2004), Weidenfeld Military


Notes