Ian Freer (British Army officer)

Ian Freer
Born (1941-05-18) 18 May 1941 (age 83)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1961–1996
RankMajor General
Service number468998
Commands5th Infantry Division
Wales and Western District
Battles / warsOperation Banner
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Major General Ian Lennox Freer, CB, CBE (born 18 May 1941)[1] is a retired British Army officer who commanded the 5th Division from 1995 to 1996.

Military career

Freer was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, then attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[1] He was commissioned into the Staffordshire Regiment in 1961.[2] He was appointed Chief of British Mission to Soviet Forces in Europe in 1989 and then served as Commander Land Forces in Northern Ireland from 1991 to 1994 during The Troubles.[3] He went on to be General Officer Commanding Wales and Western District in 1994 and General Officer Commanding 5th Division in 1995 before retiring in 1996.[4]

Freer was appointed colonel of the Staffordshire Regiment from 1990 to 1995.[5]

On his retirement in 1996 Freer settled in Melbourne, Australia, and became chairman of Ocean Software.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b FREER, Maj. Gen. Ian Lennox, Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, 2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2015)
  2. ^ "No. 42480". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 October 1961. p. 7196.
  3. ^ Michael Evans, Security squads join forces, The Times, 1 July 1992
  4. ^ Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "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)
  6. ^ "Ocean Software: Leadership team". Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
Military offices
Preceded by General Officer Commanding Wales and Western District
1994–1995 		Command disbanded
New command
Division Reformed
(Post last held by Mervyn Janes)
 General Officer Commanding the 5th Division
1995–1996 		Succeeded by