Intelligent Warfare

General Sir Frank Kitson’s memoir details his distinguished 41-year career, highlighting his innovative tactics and leadership in key conflicts.

As this superb memoir bears out, General Sir Frank Kitson’s 41-year career ranks among the most distinguished and eventful of the post-1945 era.

Commissioned into the Rifle Brigade at the end of the Second World War, he distinguished himself during the vicious Mau Mau campaign. His highly innovative tactics and personal courage earned him his first Military Cross. The second quickly followed in Malaya at the height of the Emergency.

In typically understated style, the Author describes his role planning the fight against communist aggression in Oman and his two tours in Cyprus, the second when commanding 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets.

His effective uncompromising approach while commanding 39 Infantry Brigade in Belfast in the early 1970s was to have life-long security implications for Kitson and his family. Despite controversy he was marked out for high command. As GOC 2nd Armoured Division in BAOR and Commandant of The Staff College, his forensic brain and experience made a significant impact at a time of change. His final appointment was Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces.

How fortunate that this gifted, gallant and inspiring leader was persuaded by his ever-supportive wife Elizabeth to record his career and military thinking, albeit on the condition it would only be published after his death. The result is a highly readable, wide-ranging work which will appeal to all interested in late 20th Century military history.