Sir David Trench GCMG MC DL |
|
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19th High Commissioner for the Western Pacific | |
In office 4 March 1961 – 16 June 1964 |
|
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | Sir John Gutch |
Succeeded by | Sir Robert Sidney Foster |
3rd Governor of the Solomon Islands | |
In office 4 March 1961 – 16 June 1964 |
|
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | Sir John Gutch |
Succeeded by | Sir Robert Sidney Foster |
24th Governor of Hong Kong | |
In office 14 April 1964 – 19 October 1971 |
|
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | Edmund Brinsley Teesdale (Administrator) |
Succeeded by | Sir Hugh Norman-Walker (Administrator) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Quetta, British Raj |
2 June 1915
Died | 4 December 1988 Shillingstone, England |
(aged 73)
Spouse(s) | Margaret Gould |
Children | 1 daughter |
Alma mater | Jesus College, Cambridge |
Profession | soldier, colonial administrator |
Sir David Clive Crosbie Trench GCMG MC DL (Chinese: ; 2 June 1915 – 4 December 1988) was a British Army officer and colonial governor.
Trench was educated at Tonbridge School, Tonbridge, Kent and graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge with the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.).
In 1938, Trench entered the Colonial Service as a cadet in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and was seconded to the Western Pacific High Commission in 1941. He was also commissioned into the Royal Artillery (Supplementary Reserve). From 1939 to 1945, he fought in the Second World War and served in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force from 1942 to 1946. For this, Trench was awarded the decoration of the Military Cross and the US Legion of Merit in 1944. That year he was posted to the island of Malaita, with the task of repressing the Maasina Rule, an uprising aimed at securing independence for Malaita. In August 1947, he was appointed Secretary for Development and Native Affairs, and his crackdown on the Maasina Rule continued.
Trench attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1947 and studied at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Swindon, Wiltshire in 1949.
Trench served as Governor of the Solomon Islands and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific from 1961 to 1964. In 1950, Trench became Assistant Secretary to the Deputy Defence Secretary for Hong Kong. He eventually held the office of Deputy Financial Secretary in 1956 and Commissioner of Labour and Mines in 1957. In 1958, Trench studied at the Imperial Defence College in London.