Frank Kitson
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
