Frank Kitson

General Sir Frank Edward Kitson, (born 15 December 1926) is a retired British Army officer and writer on military subjects, notably low intensity operations. He rose to be Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces from 1982 to 1985 and was Aide-de-Camp General to Queen Elizabeth II from 1983 to 1985. Early life and education Kitson is the son of Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kitson and Marjorie de Pass, daughter of Sir Eliot Arthur de Pass. His uncle Frank de Pass was the first Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross. Kitson was educated at Stowe School. Military career Kitson joined the British Army as a second lieutenant on an emergency commission in the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) on 23 February 1946. He was appointed to a regular commission as a lieutenant on 10 April 1948 (with seniority from 15 December 1947), and promoted to captain on 15 December 1953. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on 1 January 1955 for service in the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, and was awarded a Bar to it on 23 May 1958, for service in the Malayan Emergency the previous year. The citation for the Bar read: Kitson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1959 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was promoted major on 15 December 1960, brevet lieutenant-colonel on 1 July 1964, and to the substantive rank on 31 December 1966. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1968 New Year Honours. He was promoted colonel on 31 December 1969 (with seniority from 30 June 1969), and brigadier on 30 June 1970.