Richard Frederick Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill
| The Lord Vincent of Coleshill | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 August 1931 Uxbridge, Middlesex, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1951–96 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Commands held |
Chief of the Defence Staff Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff 19th Airportable Brigade 12th Light Air Defence Regiment |
| Battles/wars |
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Operation Banner |
| Awards |
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order |
Field Marshal Richard Frederick Vincent, Baron Vincent of Coleshill, GBE, KCB, DSO (born 23 August 1931) is a retired British Army officer. After serving with British Army of the Rhine he served with the Commonwealth Brigade in Malaysia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. He commanded 12th Light Air Defence Regiment in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and later commanded 19th Airportable Brigade. Although he never served as one of the individual service heads, he went on to be Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in the late 1980s and then Chief of the Defence Staff in the aftermath of the Gulf War. He subsequently became Chair of the Military Committee of NATO in the mid-1990s.
Born in Uxbridge the son of Frederick Vincent and Francis Elizabeth Vincent (née Coleshill) and educated at Aldenham School in Hertfordshire, Vincent joined the British Army, initially in the ranks, but after attending Mons Officer Cadet School, he was commissioned as a National Service officer with the rank of second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 7 July 1951. He served with the British Army of the Rhine for the first few years securing a short service commission in the Regular Army on 16 February 1953. Promoted to lieutenant on 13 March 1953 and to captain on 23 August 1958, he became a gunnery staff officer in 1959. He was seconded to the Radar Research Establishment in Malvern in 1960 and returned to the British Army of the Rhine as a troop commander in 1962. He attended the technical staff course at the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham in 1963 and attended Staff College, Camberley in 1965, following which he was promoted to major on 23 August 1965 and deployed with the Commonwealth Brigade to Malaysia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.
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