Frank Kitson

General Sir Frank Edward Kitson, GBE, KCB, MC & Bar, DL (born 15 December 1926) is a retired British Army officer and writer on military subjects, notably low intensity operations. He rose to be Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces from 1982 to 1985 and was Aide-de-Camp General to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1985.

Kitson joined the army as a second lieutenant on an emergency commission in the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own). He was appointed to a regular commission as a lieutenant on 10 April 1948 (with seniority from 15 December 1947), and promoted to captain on 15 December 1953. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on 1 January 1955 for service in the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, and was awarded a Bar to it on 23 May 1958, for service in the Malayan Emergency the previous year. The citation for the bar read:

The War Office, 23rd May, 1958.

The QUEEN has been graciously pleased to approve the following awards in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Malaya for the period 31st August to 31st December, 1957:—

Bar to the Military Cross.

Captain (temporary Major) Frank Edward Kitson, M.C. (362061), The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own).

For exceptional skill and leadership as a Company Commander during jungle operations. By his devotion to duty he attained the virtual elimination of two communist party branches in a difficult area.

Kitson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1959 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was promoted major on 15 December 1960, brevet lieutenant-colonel on 1 July 1964, and to the substantive rank on 31 December 1966. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1968 New Year Honours. He was promoted colonel on 31 December 1969 (with seniority from 30 June 1969), and brigadier on 30 June 1970.

From September 1970 Kitson commanded 39 Airportable Brigade, which comprised eight (frequently changing) battalions on short four-month tours. A further brigade was usually attached as brigade reserve, but this could be employed elsewhere as required. On 15 February 1972 he was promoted Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his operational service in Northern Ireland the previous year. According to Belfast politician Paddy Devlin, Kitson "probably did more than any other individual to sour relations between the Catholic community and the security forces" in Northern Ireland. On 22 January 1976 he became General Officer Commanding 2 Division, with the acting rank of major-general, with substantive promotion following on 5 April 1976 (and seniority from 2 June 1974), and leading its re-designation as an Armoured Division in Germany before stepping down on 28 February 1978. He was then Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley, 5 March 1978 – 18 January 1980. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 1980 New Year Honours. On 17 March 1980 he was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces and Inspector General Territorial Army, with substantive promotion to lieutenant-general (and seniority backdated to 17 August 1979). He held those appointments until 30 May 1982, and then became Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces on 1 July 1982 with local rank of general.

As is traditional for senior officers of the British Army, Kitson held a number of more honorary positions: Colonel Commandant of 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets 1 January 1979 – 1 January 1987; Honorary Colonel to the University of Oxford Officer Training Corps 21 July 1982 – 21 July 1987; Aide-de-Camp General to the Queen 14 February 1983 – 1985. In 1985 he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Devon on 19 June 1989.

In retirement he has given evidence to the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland.

On 27 April 2015 Kitson and the Ministry of Defence were served with papers for negligence and misfeasance in office by Mary Heenan, widow of Eugene "Paddy" Heenan who was killed in 1973 by members of the Ulster Defence Association, because of "the use of loyalist paramilitary gangs to contain the republican-nationalist threat through terror, manipulation of the rule of law, infiltration and subversion all core to the Kitson military of doctrine endorsed by the British army and the British government at the time."

In 1962, Kitson married Elizabeth Spencer, whose father, Charles, was Colonel of the 12th Royal Lancers. Lady Kitson was appointed an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of June 2015, for her work with the Army Families Federation.

He is author of the following books:

• 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
• Directing Operations (1989), Faber and Faber ISBN 0-571-15244-9
• Bunch of Five (1977), Faber and Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-27135-1
• Prince Rupert: Admiral and General-at-sea (1998), Constable and Robinson, ISBN 978-0-09-475500-0
• Old Ironsides: The Military Biography of Oliver Cromwell (2004), Weidenfeld Military, ISBN 978-0-7538-2185-5