Derek Boorman

Lieutenant-General
Sir Derek Boorman
KCB
Born(1930-09-13)13 September 1930
Died25 April 2025(2025-04-25) (aged 94)
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch
 British Army
Service years
1950−1988
Rank
Lieutenant-General
Service number411897
UnitNorth Staffordshire Regiment
Commands51st Brigade
Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Lieutenant-General Sir Derek Boorman KCB (13 September 1930 – 25 April 2025) was a British Army officer.

Military career

Educated at Wolstanton Grammar School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Boorman was commissioned into the North Staffordshire Regiment in 1950. He was deputy assistant adjutant and quartermaster general at Headquarters 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade and subsequently commander of 51st Brigade in Hong Kong.

He was appointed director of military operations at the Ministry of Defence in 1980 and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong in 1982. He went on to be Chief of Defence Intelligence in 1985: in that capacity he took the view that Mikhail Gorbachev's proposals for internal reform and deep cuts in missile stocks were genuine. He retired from the British Army in 1988.

He was also colonel of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles from 1983 to 1988 and Colonel of the Staffordshire Regiment from 1985 to 1990.

Boorman was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London in 1989, holding office until 1992.

Boorman was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1982 Birthday Honours, and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order (KCB) in the 1986 New Year Honours.

Retirement and death

In October 1992 he was appointed a Member of the Government's Security Commission and in 1996 he accused Government Ministers of being untruthful in their evidence to the Arms to Iraq Inquiry. He retired from the Security Commission in 1998.

In 1994 he became Chairman of the Royal Hospitals Trust – a post he held until 1998. Then in 2000 he became a Deputy Pro-Chancellor of the University of Kent.

Boorman died on 25 April 2025, at the age of 94.

References

  1. ↑ Debrett's People of Today 1994
  2. ↑ "No. 39017". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 September 1950. p. 4637.
  3. ↑ "6th Gurkhas History 1977–1994". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  4. ↑ "No. 48108". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 February 1980. p. 3032.
  5. ↑ "No. 49156". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 November 1982. p. 14262.
  6. ↑ "No. 50279". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 October 1985. p. 13872.
  7. ↑ Obituary: Sir Antony Duff The Guardian, 18 August 2000
  8. ↑ "No. 51543". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 November 1988. p. 13389.
  9. ↑ "No. 49344". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 May 1983. p. 6324.
  10. ↑ "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)
  11. ↑ "No. 52323". The London Gazette. 5 November 1990. p. 17192.
  12. ↑ "No. 51663". The London Gazette. 6 March 1989. p. 2755.
  13. ↑ "No. 52851". The London Gazette. 3 March 1992. p. 3801.
  14. ↑ "No. 49008". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1982. p. 3.
  15. ↑ "No. 50361". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1985. p. 2.
  16. ↑ "MI5 / MI6 History". Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  17. ↑ Intelligence chief accuses ministers over Scott report The Independent, 10 February 1996
  18. ↑ Butlerslossed
  19. ↑ Bats, the General and the Fat Controller British Medical Journal, 1995
  20. ↑ University of Kent
  21. ↑ Boorman The Telegraph