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Ian Durie
| Major General Ian Durie CBE (deceased) Commander Royal Artillery,1st British Armoured Division. Ian Geoffrey Campbell Durie was one of twin boys born on August 21st 1944. Like his twin brother, (Sir David Durie, Governor of Gibraltar from 2000 to 2003), Ian was educated at Fettes. He enlisted in the Army in August 1962 and, after passing out from Sandhurst, was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1964. He was appointed adjutant of 27 Field Regiment RA in 1973 and attended Staff College the following year. In 1977, he moved to 2 Division Royal Signals and Radar Establishment as GSO2. In 1979 Durie commanded a battery in 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery before being posted to HQ Munster Garrison 4 Armoured Brigade as DAQMG in 1981. He interrupted regimental duty in BAOR to take an in-service degree in Mechanical Sciences at Cambridge University. Durie was SO1 Plans HQ British Forces Falkland Islands in 1984 and then took command of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery. He was appointed OBE at the end of his tour in 1987, and the next year was promoted colonel, becoming chief instructor of the Tactics Wing at the Royal School of Artillery. Promoted brigadier the following year, Durie became CRA 1st Armoured Division in 1989 and commanded 1st (UK) Armoured Division Artillery Group in the First Gulf War. At the end of that campaign, Lieutenant-General Sir Peter de la Billiére, the British Force Commander and an infantryman, declared that under Durie, the Gunners had performed magnificently and had shown that artillery was the key to winning the tactical land battle. Durie was advanced to CBE in 1991. After attending the Royal College of Defence Studies, Durie was appointed Director Land Warfare in 1992 and Director Royal Artillery in 1994. He retired from the Army in 1996 in the rank of major-general. He was Colonel Commandant RA from 1996 to 2002. Durie went to St John's College, Nottingham, to take a Masters in Theology and to train for Holy Orders. Two years later he became a curate at St Mark's church, Battersea Rise, south London, where, working without pay, he became, in effect, the associate vicar of a parish with more than its fair share of social problems. He proved to be a fine preacher and pastor, and threw himself into the life of the community, setting up the Wandsworth Mediation Service to deal with conflicts between individuals and groups, and another body to assist in the handling of personal debt. He was also involved in 'Christians Against Poverty', ran discipleship courses and organised for local churches a great act of Christian witness on Clapham Common. Besides all this, he was honorary executive chairman of Military Ministries International - an organisation concerned with the establishing and support of military chaplains in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Far East. This involved much travelling, and it was while on a visit to Romania that he was involved in a fatal road accident on April 21st 2005. |
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Desert Scorpions by Michael Rondot. Dominating the foreground of his evocative painting of a typical resupply operation in the field are a Leyland Daf Drops vehicle from 12 Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport and a Multiple Launch Rocket System from 39 Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery. |
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