Ian Freer (British Army officer)

Ian Freer
Born (1941-05-18) 18 May 1941
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
BranchBritish Army
Years of service1961–1996
RankMajor General
Service number468998
Commands5th Infantry Division
Wales and Western District
Battles / warsOperation Banner
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Major General Ian Lennox Freer, CB, CBE (born 18 May 1941)[1] is a retired British Army officer who commanded the 5th Division from 1995 to 1996.

Military career

Freer was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, then attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[1] He was commissioned into the Staffordshire Regiment in 1961.[2] He was appointed Chief of British Mission to Soviet Forces in Europe in 1989 and then served as Commander Land Forces in Northern Ireland from 1991 to 1994 during The Troubles.[3] He went on to be General Officer Commanding Wales and Western District in 1994 and General Officer Commanding 5th Division in 1995 before retiring in 1996.[4]

Freer was appointed colonel of the Staffordshire Regiment from 1990 to 1995.[5]

On his retirement in 1996 Freer settled in Melbourne, Australia, and became chairman of Ocean Software.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b FREER, Maj. Gen. Ian Lennox, Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, 2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2015)
  2. ^ "No. 42480". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 October 1961. p. 7196.
  3. ^ Michael Evans, Security squads join forces, The Times, 1 July 1992
  4. ^ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "Ocean Software: Leadership team". Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.