General Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson, GCB
Born: 12th August, 1921
Died: 8th November, 2009
Chorister, Sportsman, Soldier, and Endless Volunteer
“General Pat”, as he was fondly known, managed throughout his life to combine a love of music and sports with both his formal career as a soldier, and his ‘retired’ career supporting a host of National and Regional organisations. A glance at this biographical summary shows just how effectively he blended these rare skills together:
| 1931-33 | Chorister, Kings College Choir School – a period which he described as “all too short a stay in paradise” |
| 1933-40 | Framlingham College: Head Boy; Captain of Cricket – Scored 1,000 runs in the 1940 season – a record not broken for many a year |
| 1941 | Commissioned into The Yorkshire Hussars, but on arrival in Egypt was snapped-up by The 7th Queen’s Own Hussars |
| 1942-43 | Burma Campaign |
| 1944-45 | Italian Campaign: Fought alongside American and Polish forces. Awarded US Silver Star and Polish Virtute Militari (Poland’s highest award for bravery) |
| 1946 | Talked into a Regular Commission by his commanding officer – an event which allowed him to marry his girlfriend, Barbara Mills |
| 1947-50 | Regimental duty, Germany |
Daughter, Susan, is born 1949. Pat & Bar compete in many Horse Trials |
| 1950-53 |
Passes Staff College 1950 Regimental duty, UK |
Son, Peter, is born 1951 Golf and Cricket predominate |
| 1955-57 | Regimental duty, Hong Kong |
President Hong Kong Cricket Club. Son, Simon, is born 1955 |
| 1957-60 |
Regimental duty at Tidworth – 7th & 3rd Hussars combine to form The Queen’s Own Hussars Joint Services Staff College 1958 |
Some serious Cricket ensues: MCC Free Foresters CC I Zingari CC |
| 1960-63 | Directing Staff, Staff College | More of the same, time permitting |
| 1963-65 | Appointed a Lt. Colonel, and commanded his Regiment in Germany and the UK | Told to “do something about the Choir” by his Brigadier – so first joined it, and then took over as Choirmaster. The family starts Skiing |
| 1965-67 | Appointed a Brigadier, and commanded Twenty Armoured Brigade in Germany | Still plenty of time for Cricket, Golf, Squash and Hockey, and to develop a new love, Sailing |
| 1969-71 | Appointed a Major General and Chief of Staff, Far East Command in Singapore | In spite of a highly pressured role, finds plenty of time for the family, who all develop a passion for water-skiing and skin-diving. Pat becomes honourary Colonel of the Queen’s Own Hussars in 1969, a position he holds until 1975 |
| 1972-74 | Commandant, The Staff College, Camberley – thus completing a full-house: Student, Directing Staff and Commandant | President of the Society of Old Framlinghamians 1973-5. Pat was appointed a Commander of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1973 |
| 1974-76 | To the Ministry of Defence, as Military Secretary, in the rank of Lieutenant General |
Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). Pat and his Lady begin to patrol the waters of the Channel and the North Sea each summer aboard “White Knight”, a Royal Armoured Corps Yacht Club Cruising cruiser |
| 1977-79 | Appointed Quartermaster General in the Ministry of Defence (a post once held by Samuel Pepys in Marlborough’s army of 1703) | Pat and Bar buy their own small yacht, “Ready About” in preparation for serious cruising in retirement |
| 1979-81 | Appointed a Full General and Vice Chief of Defence Staff, Personnel and Logistics – legend has it that it wasn’t the Army’s “turn” to hold the highest rank in the Armed Forces, otherwise he just might have been Chief of Defence staff and a Field Marshal to-boot! |
Appointed a Knight GrandCross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in 1979. From 1978-81 he also held the honorary post of Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty the Queen. Becomes honorary Colonel Commandant of the Army Catering Corps Inducted into the Worshipful Company of Cooks, and becomes a Freeman of the City of London |
| 1981 | Retires from the Army and, in 1986, moves to Snape, near Saxmundham, Suffolk | – The plan being to spend a lot more time sailing. However, there were to be many more demands on his time |
| 1981-87 | National President, Royal British Legion. | Becomes a Governor of Framlingham College |
| 1981-88 | Chairman of the Race Committee, Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races. Subsequently, Vice-Patron of the Tall Ships Youth trust until 2006 | An excellent excuse for even more sailing back and forth across the North Sea |
| Just a small sample of some of Pat’s other retirement roles |
Chairman, St Luke’s Hospital for the Clergy President, Friends of the Imperial War Museum President, Burma Star Association regional group Regional Director, Lloyds Bank |
1987-91: Chairman of Governors, Framlingham College 1988-98: President, King’s College School Cambridge Association Governor, St John’sSchool, Leatherhead President, Herts Dunkirk Veterans Association |
| Here’s a more complete list of the organizations he remained connected with until his death (but there were a good few more) |
Royal British Legion Army Benevolent Fund St. Luke’s Hospital for the Clergy Tall Ships Youth Trust Gurkha Welfare Trust Burma Star Association Royal Start and Garter Home Alzheimers Society Friends of the National Army Museum Royal National Lifeboat Institution St. John’s School, Leatherhead Friends of the Imperial War Museum Friends of St Edmundsbury War Memorials Trust Hertfordshire Conservation Society King’s College Choir School Association King’s College School Association Alde and Orr Association The Royal Logistics Corps |
Society of Old Framlinghamians Army Catering Corps Association The Worshipful Company of Cooks Staff College Club Friends of Aldeburgh Music Royal Cruising Club Royal Armoured Corps Yacht Club Royal Worlington & Newmarket GC Aldeburgh Golf Club Army Catering Corps Golfing Society Army Golfers Society Senior Golfing Society Army Golf Association Army Cricket Association Free Foresters Cricket Club Stragglers of Asia Cricket Club I Zingari Cricket Club Sail Training Association Sail Training International |
Pat and Bar remained stalwarts of the East Coast sailing, golfing and musical fraternity after moving to Snape in the mid-80s. They made their final two-handed channel crossing in “Ready About” in the Summer of 1998 – at the tender age of 77! (and they only stopped then because their adult children convinced them, somewhat against their will, that they’d had one too many ‘eventful’ crossings).
In May 2002, Patrick was “installed”, with some dozen others of the most senior members of the Order of the Bath, in the King Henry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey, where his standard and shield remain until the Spring of 2010, when the next installation of Knights occurs. His Arms feature the pierced crowns of St Edmund, mirroring the shield of Framlingham College; an Owl representing the Staff College; and the rearing white stallion of the Queen’s Own Hussars.
Bar died in August 2004 after a long stroke-induced decline, leaving an enormous hole in Pat’s life. He began to be affected by Alzheimers disease not very long afterwards. Fortunately, its progression was slow and gentle and, with the support of a wonderful care team, he was able to remain in his own home, and to take some part in many local and regional events, until just before he died.