Renowned general was the first Colonel of Royal Irish Regiment

The general, born, Charles Richard Huxtable in Bayswater, London, in July 1931, passed away at the age of 87.

He was educated at Wellington College where he was captain of boxing, before going on to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and starting his military career in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in 1952, seeing service with the 1st Battalion of the regiment in Korea.

The battalion suffered an outbreak of food poisoning en route to Korea and also experienced a typhoon in the South China Sea prior to their arrival.

In May 1953 Huxtable was assistant signals officer during the Battle of Samichon Valley, which saw the Duke of Wellington regiment outnumbered five to one by the Chinese.

Fierce close-quarter fighting saw the regiment’s forward positions being overrun before artillery fire had to be called down on the British positions to clear the enemy, who were caught in the open. Following the South Korean experience, Huxtable was deployed in 1967 as part of UN peacekeeping forces to Cyprus and saw action in the mixed Greek/Turkish village of Ayios, where he and his Co, Lt. Colonel Donald Isles, successfully brokered a ceasefire between the two factions.

The general was on the directing staff at Kings College for a time before service in Hong Kong and then two tours of Northern Ireland in the early years of the Troubles, one in Belfast and the second in South Armagh.

Between 1976 and 1978 he commanded the Dhofar Brigade in Oman and was renowned for his diplomatic abilities with the fledgling Omani army, which was to take charge after independence.

In 1980 he became Commander Land Forces Northern Ireland and in 1988 his final appointment prior to retirement in 1990 was as Commander in Chief of Land Forces in the United Kingdom.

During his distinguished career he also served as Commander Training and Arms Directorate, Quartermaster General, and was appointed senior military advisor to Saudi Arabia by Margaret Thatcher.

He served on the prime minister’s advisory committee on business appointments. He was Colonel of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment from 1982 to 1990, Colonel Commandant of the Ulster Defence Regiment from 1991 and first Colonel of the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992, holding this position until 1996. Huxtable was also President of the Army Rugby Union from 1985 to 1990.

He was appointed MBE in 1961, OBE in 1972 and advanced to CBE in 1976. Additionally, he was appointed a CB in 1982 and subsequently knighted in 1984. He was also a Queen’s Deputy Lieutenant.

He was a strong supporter of charities including the Federation of Army Wives (now the Army Families Federation), of which his wife, Lady Mary, was a founder member. He was also one of the patrons of the Duke of Wellington’s Regimental Memorial Fund.

He followed on family tradition in the military and most specifically the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. His father had served with the Dukes during the First World War including at Ypres in Belgium.

The city was under heavy bombardment and as they passed through in December 1915 the famous Cloth Hall was in flames. Huxtable saw a key in the door and removed it; for many years it was a prized family possession and in July 2011 General Huxtable and his wife returned it to the Mayor of the city in a short ceremony.

General Huxtable wrote of his beloved Duke of Wellington’s Regiment: “We are not a smart, social regiment. We do not seek to be ever in the headlines. We do not pretend to have some special expertise. Indeed, perhaps what makes us special is that we do not seek to be any of these things.

“We are ordinary, straight-forward folk who stick together. We have in the Dukes some of the best soldiers in the world. I would back the ‘Dukes’ soldier – the good, honest, straight-forward, hard-working Yorkshireman – against any soldiers in the world,” he reflected.

General Sir Charles Huxtable is survived by his wife Mary (the couple were married in 1959) andthree daughters.

His funeral took place last month at Holy Trinity Church, Wensley near Leyburn in North Yorkshire.

A memorial service is to be held in York Minister on March 1, 2019.