View source for John Foley (British Army officer)

{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Sir John Foley
| image         =
| image_size    =
| alt           =
| caption       =
| nickname      =
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1939|04|22|df=yes}}
| birth_placem  =
| death_date    =
| death_place   =
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| allegiance    = United Kingdom
| branch        = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1959–1997
| servicenumber = 460829
| rank          = [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]]
| unit          = [[Special Air Service]]
| commands      = [[Commander British Forces in Hong Kong]]<br />[[Director Special Forces|Director SAS]]
| battles       =
| awards        = [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]<br />[[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]]<br />[[Military Cross]]
| relations     =
| laterwork     =
}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] '''Sir John Paul Foley''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|OBE|MC|DL}} (born 22 April 1939) is a retired [[British Army]] officer with a long career in [[military intelligence]]. He is the great-grandson of [[Henry Hodgetts-Foley]], and was educated at [[Bradfield College]].
==Military career==
Foley joined the [[Special Air Service]] as an [[enlisted man]] during his [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|National Service]].<ref name=bbc>{{cite web|title=Interview with Sir John Foley|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/articles/2007/03/06/sas_boss_feature.shtml|accessdate=2008-04-08}}</ref> He served in BRIXMIS during the 1970s. He was [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the [[Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|Rifle Brigade]] in 1959<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41772|supp=y|page=4674|date=21 July 1959}}</ref> and rose to become [[Director Special Forces|Director SAS]] in 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201860-.pdf |title=Army Commands |date=26 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112744/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201860-.pdf |archivedate= 4 March 2016 }}</ref> He was later Director of General Intelligence, which involved ensuring intelligence provision in the theatre of war and making assessments for government ministers at the time of the [[Gulf War]] in 1990,<ref>[http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/archive/2006/09/18/Midlands+Archive/6543795.Not_the_retiring_type "Not the retiring type"] ''Worcester News'', 18 September 2006</ref> and became [[Commander British Forces in Hong Kong|Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong]] in 1992, before being named [[Defence Intelligence|Chief of Defence Intelligence]] in 1994. He left that post, retiring from the Army three years later, in 1997.<ref name=bbc/>
==Later life==
In October 1999, he replaced [[William Rous (British Army officer)|Sir William Rous]] as Chairman of the British Greyhound Racing Board but resigned just six months later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://guernseypress.com/news/2005/09/19/saying-farewell-to-the-foleys/|title=Saying farewell to the Foleys|date=19 September 2005 |publisher=Guernsey Press|access-date=23 January 2022}}</ref> In 2000, he was appointed [[Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey]], and served in that post for five years before retiring to his native [[Herefordshire]].<ref name=bbc/> He was appointed [[High Sheriff of Herefordshire]] and [[High Sheriff of Worcestershire|Worcestershire]] in 2006<ref name=bbc/> and Vice-Lieutenant of Herefordshire in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.herefordshirelife.co.uk/people/sir-john-foley-s-fight-for-injured-soldiers-1-1570869|title=Sir John Foley's fight for injured soldiers|date=25 July 2012|publisher=Herefordshire Life|accessdate=2 January 2018}}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Peter de la Billière]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Director Special Forces|Director SAS]]|years=1983&ndash;1985}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Michael Wilkes]]}}
|-
{{succession box | before=[[Peter Duffell (British Army officer)|Sir Peter Duffell]] | title=[[Commander British Forces in Hong Kong|Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong]] | years=1992–1994 | after=[[Bryan Dutton]]}}
|-
{{succession box | before=[[John Walker (RAF officer)|Sir John Walker]] | title=[[Defence Intelligence|Chief of Defence Intelligence]] | years=1994–1997 | after=[[Alan West, Baron West of Spithead|Sir Alan West]]}}
|-
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box | before=[[John Coward (Royal Navy officer)|Sir John Coward]] | title=[[Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey]] | years=2000–2005 | after=[[Fabian Malbon|Sir Fabian Malbon]]}}
|-
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box | before=Andrew Grant | title=[[High Sheriff of Herefordshire]] and [[High Sheriff of Worcestershire|Worcestershire]] | years=2006 | after=John Yorke}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, John}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Herefordshire]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Rifle Brigade officers]]
[[Category:Royal Green Jackets officers]]
[[Category:Special Air Service officers]]
[[Category:Special Air Service soldiers]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Herefordshire]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Worcestershire]]
[[Category:People educated at Bradfield College]]
[[Category:Foley family|John]]
[[Category:Schuyler family]]
[[Category:Van Cortlandt family]]
[[Category:English people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Herefordshire]]
[[Category:People in greyhound racing]]
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