Allegiance United Kingdom Role British Army officer Years of service 1945–1979 Died March 7, 2007 | Service/branch British Army Name John Simpson Rank Brigadier | |
Battles/wars Malayan Emergency
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Awards Order of the British Empire Battles and wars Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation | ||
Commands held Special Air Service | ||
Brigadier John James Hope Simpson CBE (10 October 1927 – 7 March 2007) was a British Army officer who became Director SAS.
Military career
Educated at Queen's Royal College in Trinidad, Simpson enlisted in the Coldstream Guards in May 1945 and was commissioned into the Gordon Highlanders in 1946. He served in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency in the early 1950s, in Cyprus during terrorist campaign EOKA in the late 1950s and then commanded a small amphibious team in Borneo during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in the early 1960s. He was appointed an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley in 1965, Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces in 1969 and Director SAS in 1972. His last appointment was in 1975 as Director of the team at the Defence Policy Staff who had responsibility for NATO and Europe before he retired in 1979.