View source for Peter Leng

{{short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name          = Peter Leng
| image         =
| caption       =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|05|09|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|02|11|1925|05|09|df=y}}
| placeofburial_label =
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| birth_place  =
| death_place  =
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname      =
| allegiance    ={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]]
| branch        =[[Image:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  =1944–1981
| servicenumber =307865
| rank          =[[General (United Kingdom)|General]]
| unit          =[[Scots Guards]]<br>[[Royal Anglian Regiment]]
| commands      =3rd Battalion, [[Royal Anglian Regiment]]<br>[[24th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|24th Airmobile Brigade]]<br>[[I Corps (United Kingdom)|1st (British) Corps]]
| battles       =[[World War II]]<br>[[Operation Banner]]
| awards        ={{plainlist|
* [[File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg|35 px]] [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
* [[File:Order of the British Empire (Military) Ribbon.svg|35 px]] [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]]
* [[File:Military cross BAR.svg|35 px]] [[Military Cross]]}}
| relations     =
| laterwork     =
}}
[[General (United Kingdom)|General]] '''Sir Peter John Hall Leng''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|MBE|MC}} (9 May 1925 – 11 February 2009) was a [[British Army]] General and [[Master-General of the Ordnance]] (1981–1983) & Counter Terrorism Expert in [[Northern Ireland]].
==Military service==
Leng was born in 1925 in [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]] and went to [[Bradfield College]], [[Berkshire]].<ref name=times>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100524222730/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5753667.ece Obituary: Sir Peter Leng] The Times, 18 February 2009</ref> He was [[commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the [[Scots Guards]] in 1944.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36461|page=1659|date=7 April 1944|supp=y}}</ref> He was awarded a [[Military Cross]] in April 1945 for his actions in [[Visselhövede]] in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]].<ref name=times/><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37235|page=4264|date=21 August 1945|supp=y}}</ref> Leng, as [[platoon]] officer, led forward a section and captured over 60 German [[prisoner of war|prisoners]]. He was then wounded in May during the advance on [[Hamburg, Germany|Hamburg]].<ref name=times/>
After the war he was appointed Military Assistant to [[Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)|the Chief of Defence Staff]], [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten of Burma]].<ref name=times/> He returned to the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards as its second in command in 1965, and was transferred to the [[Royal Anglian Regiment]] in 1964 as [[Commanding Officer]] of the 3rd battalion of the Regiment in [[Berlin]] within the [[British Army of the Rhine]].<ref name=times/> His battalion later moved to [[Aden]] where the security situation was deteriorating. After promotion to the rank of [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|brigadier]], he commanded the [[24th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|24th Airmobile Brigade]]. He moved to the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] in 1971 as deputy [[Military Secretary (United Kingdom)|military secretary]], and was appointed to command of the British Army forces in [[Headquarters Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]] in 1973. When he left, bombings and other violence had dropped to a fifth of the level of when he arrived.<ref name=times/>
In 1975 he became Director of Military Operations at the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] and in 1978 he was asked to command the [[I Corps (United Kingdom)|1st (British) Corps]] in [[Germany]].<ref name=times/> He won praise from [[NATO]] command and successfully executed Exercise Spearpoint. He became [[Master-General of the Ordnance]] in 1981. He retired from the Army in 1983 and became chairman of the Racecourse Association, during which time he was instrumental in securing the live broadcasting of races in betting shops.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-194657355.html Former RCA chief Sir Peter Leng dies]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Racing Post, 1 March 2009</ref>
==Personal life==
He first married Virginia Rosemary Pearson, dissolved in 1981. He then remarried to Flavia Tower, daughter of Lieutenant General [[Frederick Browning|Sir Frederick Browning]] and novelist [[Daphne de Maurier]]. His second wife survives him along with several children from his first marriage.<ref name=times/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4939314/General-Sir-Peter-Leng.html Obituary: Daily Telegraph]
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard Worsley|Sir Richard Worsley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[I Corps (United Kingdom)|GOC 1st (British) Corps]]|years=1978–1980}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nigel Bagnall|Sir Nigel Bagnall]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Hugh Beach|Sir Hugh Beach]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Master-General of the Ordnance]]|years=1981–1983}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Richard Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill|Sir Richard Vincent]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leng, Peter John Hall}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Aden Emergency]]
[[Category:British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland)]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Bradfield College]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Sunderland]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Royal Anglian Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Scots Guards officers]]