Nick Welch (British Army officer)

Nick Welch
Brigadier Welch in 2011
Borncirca 1964[1]
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1984–2018
RankMajor General
Commands7 Armoured Brigade
1st Battalion, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment
Battles / warsBosnian War
War in Afghanistan
AwardsQueen's Commendation for Valuable Service

Nicholas Welch (born c. 1964) is a retrospectively dismissed British Army major general who served as the Assistant Chief of the General Staff from 2015 to 2018. In March 2021 he became the highest ranked British officer to be convicted at a court martial in over 200 years.[2]

Military career

Early deployments

Welch was commissioned into the Gloucestershire Regiment on 20 April 1984.[3] His deployments included Berlin, Northern Ireland and Belize.[4]

Commanding officer and senior appointments

Welch became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment in 2002 and,[5] having been promoted to colonel on 30 June 2006,[6] he became commander of 7 Armoured Brigade based in Bergen-Hohne, Germany in March 2009.[7] He was deployed with 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade as the deputy commander of Regional Command (South West) in Afghanistan in September 2011.[8]

He briefly served as Deputy Director of Strategic Studies in the Ministry of Defence before becoming Director Army Division at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in August 2012.[9] He went on to be Chief of Staff, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in July 2014,[7] and Assistant Chief of the General Staff in December 2015.[10][11]

Welch retired from the Army with the rank of Major General in April 2018.[12]

Honours

Welch was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service for service in the former Yugoslavia in March 2005.[13] He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours[14] and promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours.[15] The award of the OBE was annulled and cancelled in August 2023.[16]

Civilian life

Arts University Bournemouth

After leaving the army, Welch was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Arts University Bournemouth in 2018. He was later dismissed from the role in 2021 following his conviction for fraud.[17][18]

Fraud conviction and retroactive dismissal from Army

In 2017 the Army commenced an investigation into Welch of an improper use of an education allowance.[19] The allowance was designed to allow Welch and wife to live in London closer to his role at the Ministry of Defence while their children attended boarding school in Dorset.[20] However records showed that Welch's wife spent the majority of her time at the couple's cottage in Dorset rather than London.[21] At a four week court martial held in March 2021, Welch has found guilty of dishonestly and fraudulently claiming £48,000 of school fees from 2015 to 2017 and was sentenced to 21 months in a civilian prison.[22][23] He was also retrospectively dismissed from the army.[24]

It was reported that Welch was the most senior Army officer to face a court martial since 1815.[25]

References

  1. ^ Morris, Steven (25 March 2021). "Senior army officer convicted of £48,000 Dorset boarding school fee fraud". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  2. ^ Brown, Larisa. "Major general convicted of fraud over £48,000 claim for private school fees". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  3. ^ "No. 49813". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 1984. p. 10102.
  4. ^ "Shedhead Major General returns to Gloucestershire as chief of staff for ARRC – with one eye on Gloucester vs Bath". Gloucester Citizen. 12 November 2014. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Why do regiments matter?". BBC. 6 December 2004. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  6. ^ "No. 58034". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 July 2006. p. 9061.
  7. ^ a b "Senior Army appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Brigadier General Nick Welch steps into top Afghanistan role". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  9. ^ "Ministry of Defence and Senior Tri-Service Appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Major General Nick Welch". Corenet. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Annual Newsletter" (PDF). Regimental Association of The Rifles and The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  12. ^ "No. 62252". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 April 2018. p. 6366.
  13. ^ "No. 57588". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 March 2005. p. 3372.
  14. ^ "No. 56070". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2000. p. 6.
  15. ^ "No. 57855". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2005. p. 5.
  16. ^ "No. 64152". The London Gazette. 23 August 2023. p. 16878.
  17. ^ "University pledges action after senior officer's fraud conviction". Times Higher Education. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  18. ^ Havergal, Chris (26 March 2021). "Former major general jailed for fraud exits university post". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  19. ^ "Major general school fees probe 'launched after two complaints'". BBC News. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Major general trial told school fees rule was 'flexible'". BBC News. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  21. ^ "Major General Nick Welch sentenced to 21 months in jail over £48k school fee fraud". Sky News. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  22. ^ Morris, Steven (25 March 2021). "Senior army officer convicted of £48,000 Dorset boarding school fee fraud". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  23. ^ "Major general jailed for Dorset school fees fraud". BBC News. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  24. ^ "No. 63351". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 18 May 2021. p. 8884.
  25. ^ "Civilians may be called up to court martial of Major General Nick Welch". The Times. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
Military offices
Preceded by Assistant Chief of the General Staff
2015–2018 		Succeeded by