Frank Kitson

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General Sir Frank Kitson GBE KCB MC (born 1926) is a retired British Officer and writer on military subjects, notably low intensity operations. He rose to Commander in Chief, United Kingdom Land Forces 1982–1985 and served as Aide-de-Camp General to the Queen 1983–1985. In 1985 he became Knight Grand Cross, Order of the British Empire.

His earlier published work on counter-gangs and measures of deception, including the use of defectors, continues to provoke strong opinions. Although sometimes wrongly credited with inventing concepts of pseudo-gangs and pseudo-operations (for example, used earlier in the Huk Insurrection^[1] in the Philippines), his writing gave the issue a wider audience. In retirement he has given evidence to the Saville Inquiry^[2] into Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland.

[edit] Selected bibliography

• Gangs and Counter-gangs (1960), Barrie and Rockliff
• Low Intensity Operations: Subversion, Insurgency and Peacekeeping (1971), Faber and Faber - reprint 1991 ISBN 0-571-16181-2
• Bunch of Five (1977)
• Prince Rupert: Admiral and General-at-sea (1998), Constable and Robinson
• Old Ironsides: The Military Biography of Oliver Cromwell (2004), Weidenfeld Military

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Cline, Lawrence E. (2005) Pseudo Operations and Counterinsurgency: Lessons from other countries, Strategic Studies Institute, page 1
2. ^ Bloody Sunday Inquiry website