Peter Inge, Baron Inge
Field Marshal Peter Anthony Inge, Baron Inge, KG, GCB, PC, DL (born 5 August 1935) was the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, between 1992 and 1994. On 15 March 1994 he was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal and made Chief of the Defence Staff. Since retiring in 1997 he has been made a life peer and a Knight of the Garter. He has commanded, among other British Army regiments, the Green Howards.
He was a member of the Butler Inquiry team, chaired by Robin Butler, that determined that the intelligence used to declare Iraq's possession of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" was flawed.
Peter Inge was commissioned into the Green Howards from Sandhurst in 1956. He served with the 1st Battalion in Hong Kong, Germany and Libya. After working in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) he returned to the Battalion as a company commander, serving in Northern Ireland. From 1971 to 1972 he was Brigade Major with the 11th Armoured Brigade, before being appointed Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion the Green Howards. He subsequently commanded the Staff College’s Junior Division, then Task Force C of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). In 1987 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, promoted to Lieutenant General and continued to serve in Germany as Chief of Staff of I (British) Corps. He returned to Britain as GOC North Eastern District, based in York, then was appointed Director General, Logistics Policy (Army) at the MOD. In 1989 Sir Peter became the Commander of NATO’s Northern Army Group and Commander in Chief of BAOR. On his return to the UK in 1992 he became Chief of the General Staff and in 1994 was promoted to Field Marshal and became Chief of the Defence Staff. He served in the post until 1997, when he was created Baron Inge, of Richmond in the County of North Yorkshire. He was appointed as one of the 24 Knights of the Garter in 2002. In 2004 he was made a Privy Councillor and appointed to serve on the Butler Committee, which examined the use of intelligence during the Iraq War.
He is president of the Pilgrims Society of Great Britain.
