Sir Noel Thomas
Born28 February 1915
Died16 March 1983 (aged 68)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankGeneral
Commands42nd (Lancashire and Cheshire) Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Military Cross

General Sir (John) Noel Thomas KCB DSO MC (28 February 1915 – 16 March 1983) was a Master-General of the Ordnance.

Military career

Thomas was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1936.[1]

He served in World War II latterly as Commander Royal Engineers for the Guards Armoured Division in North West Europe.[1]

He was appointed General Officer Commanding 42nd (Lancashire and Cheshire) Division in 1963 and then became Director of Combat Development (Army) at the Ministry of Defence in 1965.[1] He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) in 1968 and Master-General of the Ordnance in 1971; in this capacity he was also a member of the Procurement Executive Organisation formed by Prime Minister Edward Heath that year.[2] He retired in 1974.[1]

He also served as Colonel of the Royal Pioneer Corps from 1968 to 1976.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  2. ^ Procurement Executive Organisation Flight International, 5 August 1971
  3. ^ "Royal Pioneer Corps". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017. ((cite web)): |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2006-07-19 suggested (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Military offices Preceded bySir Neil Wheeler Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) 1968–1971 Succeeded bySir Ian McIntosh Preceded bySir Charles Richardson Master-General of the Ordnance 1971–1974 Succeeded bySir John Gibbon