Cecil Blacker

General Sir Cecil Hugh Blacker (4 June 1916 – 18 October 2002) was a senior British Army officer and a former Adjutant-General to the Forces. Military career Educated at Wellington College and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Cecil Blacker was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards in 1936. He was adjutant of the regiment during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. He later transferred to the 23rd Hussars which then formed part of 11th Armoured Division. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1944 following Operation Goodwood and went on to become Commanding Officer of the 23rd Hussars in 1945. Blacker commanded the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards from 1955 to 1957. He was then Military Assistant to the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer from 1958 to 1960. He was appointed Commander of 39th Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland in 1962 and was then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 3rd Division from 1964 to 1966. He was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command in 1969 and then went on to become Vice Chief of the General Staff in 1970 before becoming Adjutant General in 1973: he held this post until he retired in 1976. In 1974 his home was badly damaged by an IRA bomb