Robert Richardson

Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Francis Richardson (2 March 1929 – 21 November 2014 ) was a British Army officer. Among other posts, he commanded a battalion and a brigade during the Troubles before becoming General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland from 1982 to 1985.

Regimental career He was educated at George Heriot's School, Edinburgh, and then at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Royal Scots as a second lieutenant on 16 December 1949, after leaving Sandhurst, and posted to the 1st Battalion. He was promoted to lieutenant on 16 December 1951, and briefly saw service at the end of the Korean War. After service with the British Army of the Rhine, he studied at the Defence Services Staff College in India from 1960-1961. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1965 New Year Honours.

He was brigade major of the Aden Brigade during the Aden Emergency in 1967, He then returned to staff duties at the Ministry of Defence, receiving his promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 31 December 1968, and was appointed as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots in 1969, a post he held until 1971.

He was then appointed to the staff at the Staff College, Camberley,

Senior command He was promoted brigadier on 31 December 1973, and appointed commander of 39th Infantry Brigade, based in Northern Ireland, the following year.

In 1975, he was appointed the Deputy Adjutant General of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and received substantive promotion on 22 July 1978. He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) on 25 May 1978. He relinquished command on 15 September 1980.

On 19 December 1980, he was appointed Vice-Adjutant General, and Director of Manning for the Army at the Ministry of Defence, and relinquished the appointment on 29 March 1982.

He succeeded Sir Richard Lawson as GOC Northern Ireland on 1 June 1982, was promoted to lieutenant-general on the same date, and was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 12 June 1982. He had previously commanded both a roulement battalion and a resident brigade in Northern Ireland, giving him experience of the issues faced in the region. His tour as GOC was mainly marked by a gradual process of reducing the role of Army units in day-to-day security, handing over control to the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He was relieved by Robert Pascoe in June 1985.

Ceremonial posts On 31 August 1980, he was appointed Colonel of the Royal Scots, and held the post for ten years, until 31 August 1990. He was appointed the Lieutenant of the Tower of London on 1 March 1992, and held the post until 1 March 1995.

His medals are now held in the Museum of the Royal Scots in Edinburgh Castle.

Personal life Richardson married Maureen Robinson in 1956; they had four children, Claire, Charles, Jeremy and Guy; she died in 1986. In 1988 he married Alexandra (Candy) Inglis (née Bomford); she survived him and died in 2025.