Major general julian thompson biography of george

The following account by Brigadier Thompson of his own involvement in the Falklands Conflict was published in The Shirburnian , Michaelmas We had not been back long, indeed the rear parties were still at sea when events started moving very fast indeed.

Historian Major-General Julian Howard Atherden Thompson Central Bank, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a military historian and former Royal Marines officer .

My telephone at home rang at hours on 2 April. It was my General who in guarded phrases told me that Argentina was about to invade the Falkland Islands. The first thought that went through my head was that the bulk of the staff were in Denmark on an exercise reconnaissance. Planning in the early stages was bedevilled by a number of factors not least a lack of intelligence, lack of shipping and on firm mission.

All this got better as time went on and the first ray of light was agreed by the MOD to requisition merchant ships to augment the RN shipping.

Major General Julian Howard Atherden Thompson, CB, OBE (born 7 October ) is a military historian and former Royal Marines officer who commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War. See more.

The merchant service did splendidly throughout the campaign and did things that they would never have dreamed possible a few weeks before. I shall never forget the sight of one of our merchant ships doing a three ship re-fuelling at sea and at night as coolly as though he did it every day of his life. Jones, who brought with him another light gun battery and some more light helicopters.

At Ascension Island we had a pause for a much-needed restow and work-up of those units not familiar with Amphibious operations. I should say a word here about how quickly we assimilated these units who are not normally part of my Brigade. We were greatly assisted by the small size of the Royal Marines and the British Army.

As we are all regular forces, we know each other well and have served together frequently. Throughout the journey south and during our stay at Ascension Island the planning continued. Conversely, I did not want to land so far away that it would take weeks or even months to get to Stanley possibly involving another amphibious operation. Mike Clapp wanted a beachhead that provided a sheltered anchorage whatever the weather and protection from the air-launched Exocet.