Patrick Marriott

Major General Patrick Claude Marriott
Birth name	Patrick Claude Marriott
Born	(1958-02-23) 23 February 1958
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1977 – 2012
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	Queen's Royal Lancers 7th Armoured Brigade RMA Sandhurst
Battles/wars	Iraq War
Awards	CBE, QCVS, CB
Relations	Peter Barnsley Marriott (Father)

Major-General Patrick Claude Marriott CB CBE DL (born 23 February 1958) is a British soldier who became Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.^[1]

His early career was with the 17th/21st Lancers and the Queen's Royal Lancers, which he commanded for two years. Postings include the Multinational Force in Sinai, Northern Ireland, West Germany, SHAPE, and two years in command of the 7th Armoured Brigade including six months in Iraq.

Early life

The son of Captain Peter Barnsley Marriott DSO DSC RN (1915–1989), by his marriage to Francis Jill Davis, a former Leading WREN (died 2009),^[2] Marriott was educated at Granville School, Sevenoaks; Claremont School, Sussex; Gresham's School, Holt, and at Sandhurst.^[3]

Career

Commissioned as a regular officer in May 1977,^[4] Marriott was an officer of the 17th/21st Lancers from 1977 and then was a company commander in the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai in 1982. He returned to the 17th/21st Lancers as Adjutant in 1982, was an assistant to the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel & Logistics) from 1985 and a squadron leader with the 17th/21st Lancers from 1987, before attending the Canadian Staff College in Toronto in 1990. He was an Instructor at the Staff College from 1991, before service with The Queen's Royal Lancers in 1993 and taking up an appointment at the British Army Training Unit Suffield in 1995 and a posting to SHAPE in 1998. He was Commanding Officer of The Queen's Royal Lancers from 1998, then Chief of Staff, HQ 1 (UK) Armoured Division from 2000, took the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2004, then commanded 7th Armoured Brigade from 2005 and was Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) at Permanent Joint Headquarters from 2007. He was Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst from 2009 to 2012.^[3] In 2012 he was appointed the Colonel of The Queen's Royal Lancers.

While serving in post-invasion Iraq as commander of the 7th Armoured Brigade, Marriott was also in command of all British troops in southern Iraq from 2005 to 2006. While many soldiers were complaining about the politicians who had sent them into action without enough men or equipment, Marriott took the view that the British could never have gained the trust of the people of Basra, thanks to their history. In an interview with the journalist Oliver Poole he said "The people were immersed in cruelty. There's a sad culture of mistrust, especially of authority."^[5] In celebration of his Brigade's nickname, "the Desert Rats", Marriott kept a large silver rat on his desk in Basra.^[6]

Marriott served as a member of the House of Laity of the General Synod of the Church of England from 2005 to 2012,^[7] and as a director of the British Forces Foundation 2009 to 2012.^[3][8] He is now a governor of Loretto School, Musselburgh, and is also the Chairman of the Scottish Committee for fund-raising of the charity Combat Stress.

Private life

In 1989, Marriott married Karin Henrietta Warde Ingram, and they have two sons and one daughter.^[3]

In 2005, he was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms.^[9] After his retirement from the army, he was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Sutherland.

Honours

• Officer of the Order of the British Empire, April 2000, "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the former Yugoslavia during 1999"^[3][10]
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 2003^[3]
• Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service, 2006^[3]
• Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division), in 2012 New Year Honours^[11][12]
• Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Sutherland, 18 September 2013

References