Sir Henry Leask
Born30 June 1913
Hugesovka, Russian Empire[1]
Died10 January 2004 (aged 90)
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1936–1972
RankLieutenant General
Service number62419
UnitRoyal Scots Fusiliers
Commands held8th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
1st Battalion, London Scottish
1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division
Scottish Command
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Lieutenant General Sir Henry Lowther Ewart Clark Leask KCB DSO OBE (30 June 1913 – 10 January 2004) was a senior British Army officer who served in World War II and held high command during the 1960s.

Military career

Henry Leask was commissioned into the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1936.[2]

He served in the Second World War becoming commanding officer of 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1944.[2] He won the DSO for on a three-mile dash to capture two bridges over the River Po at San Patrizio.[3]

After the War, in 1946, he was appointed commanding officer of 1st London Scottish and from 1947 he was in Military Operations Directorate at the War Office.[2] He then became commanding officer of 1st Parachute Regiment in 1952.[2] He was appointed Assistant Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War in 1955 and then from 1957 he was Commandant of the Tactical Wing of the School of Infantry.[2] In 1962, he became Deputy Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War.[2]

He was appointed General Officer Commanding 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division in 1964, and Director of Army Training at the Ministry of Defence in 1966.[2] He became General Officer Commanding Scottish Command and Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1969; he retired in 1972.[2]

Family

In 1940, he married Zoe de Camborne Paynter and together they went on to have one son and two daughters.[3] Their son Anthony (b.1943) followed his father into the services, joining the Scots Guards and rising to the rank of Major-General, before becoming a military historian.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Lt-Gen Sir Henry Leask". The Telegraph. 23 January 2004.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Leaske, Henry". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 Obituary: Lt Gen Sir Henry Leask The Times, 23 January 2004
  4. ↑ "'PUTTY' - AN UNKNOWN SCOTS GUARDSMAN INTERVIEW WITH MAJOR GENERAL ANTHONY LEASK". Guards Magazine. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
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