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John Chapple (British Army officer)

Sir John Chapple
Born (1931-05-27) 27 May 1931 (age 85)
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1954–92
Rank Field Marshal
Commands held Chief of the General Staff
Land Forces
Commander British Forces in Hong Kong
Gurkha Field Force
1st Battalion, 2nd Gurkha Rifles
Battles/wars Malayan Emergency
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Other work Governor of Gibraltar (1993–95)

Field Marshal Sir John Lyon Chapple, GCB, CBE (born 27 May 1931) was a career British Army officer in the second half of the 20th century. He served as Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, from 1988 to 1992. Early in his early military career he saw action during the Malayan Emergency and again during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and later in his career he provided advice to the British Government during the Gulf War.

Born the son of C. H. Chapple and educated at Haileybury College, Chapple undertook National Service and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 3 June 1950. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge in October 1951 and, while still at University, was transferred to the King's Regiment as a second lieutenant on 4 December 1952, and to the South Lancashire Regiment also in the same rank on 20 October 1953. He became a lieutenant in the South Lancashire Regiment on 27 May 1954 and, on leaving University, was transferred to the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) on 3 August 1954 retaining his rank as a lieutenant.

Chapple served with the regiment in Malaya, Hong Kong and Borneo. He was promoted to captain on 9 February 1957 and to major on 9 February 1964. Appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1969 and promoted to lieutenant colonel on 31 December, he was appointed Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Gurkha Rifles in 1970 and made a member of the Directing Staff at the Staff College, Camberley in 1972. After spending much of the year as a services fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in 1973, he was posted to the Directorate of Staff Duties at the Ministry of Defence at the end of the year and, having been promoted to colonel on 31 December 1973 and to brigadier on 31 December 1975, was made Commander of the Gurkha Field Force in 1976. He became Principal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1978, and having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1980, he became Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong on 13 June 1980, with the substantive rank of major general from 1 January 1981. He returned to the United Kingdom to be Director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence on 19 October 1982.


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