Patrick John Ovens

Major-General Patrick John Ovens, (4 November 1922 – 29 January 1994) was a distinguished senior officer in the British Royal Marines. He was awarded the Military Cross for service in the Korean War and later served as an aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II.

Early life and education Patrick John Ovens was born in Cirencester (Gloucestershire) in the southwest of England, the eldest of four children of Edward Alec Ovens (1897–1961) by his marriage in June 1921 to Mary Linsel Constable (1895–1969). Ovens was educated at King's School, an independent boarding school in Bruton (Somerset), where he was invited to become a governor many years later.

Military career In 1941, Ovens was commissioned into the Royal Marines. He was stationed on in the Mediterranean from 1942 to 1943,

After the war, Ovens filled a number of training and staff appointments. In the summer of 1950, shortly before the Korean War, he sailed in Samuel Pepys, a Royal Naval Sailing Association yacht, in the race from Newport, Rhode Island to Bermuda.

Ovens won his Military Cross in 1951 during the Korean War. In November 1950, he led a party of seven Marines to safety after they had been surrounded by the Chinese army in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Despite the heavy odds against their making it, they successfully navigated their way across the snow-covered hills under cover of darkness to rejoin their own lines at Koto-Ri, four miles to the south. for his command of 41 Commando. As the commanding officer, he played a leading role in clearing Cornwall's beaches following the SS Torrey Canyon disaster

From 1970 to 1972, Ovens served as commander of the 3 Commando Brigade in succession to Brigadier Peter Whiteley. From 1976 to 1979, he served as Commandant of the Joint Warfare Establishment. He retired on 2 April 1979.

Personal life In 1952, Ovens married Margaret Mary White. They had two daughters and one son (Jerry Ovens, a Royal Navy commander).