George Lea

Lieutenant General Sir George Harris Lea, (28 December 1912 – 27 December 1990) was a British Army officer who fought in the Second World War, notably at the Battle of Arnhem, and later became Head of the British Defence Staff in Washington, D.C.

Military career


Educated at Charterhouse School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Lea was commissioned into the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1933. He served in the Second World War as brigade major of the 4th Parachute Brigade and then as commanding officer of 11th Battalion, Parachute Regiment. In this role he saw action during Operation Market Garden and became a prisoner of war.

After attending the Staff College, Camberley, Lea became commanding officer of the Special Air Service in 1955 and saw action again in Malaya. He went on to be commander of 2nd Infantry Brigade in 1957, deputy military secretary in 1960 and General Office Commanding 42nd (Lancashire) Division/District of the Territorial Army in 1962. He was given command of the armed forces in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1963 and became director of operations in Borneo in the spring of 1965, just before a pivotal battle with Indonesia at Plaman Mapu during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation. His last appointment was as head of the British Defence Staff in Washington, D.C. in 1967 before retiring in 1970.

In retirement Lea was Lieutenant of the Tower of London.