{{Short description|British Army general (1923–1986)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}} {{Use British English|date=April 2014}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = General |name= Sir Timothy Creasey |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|OBE}} |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= "The Bull" |birth_date= {{birth date|1923|09|21|df=y}} |birth_place= |death_date= {{death date and age|1986|10|05|1923|09|21|df=y}} |death_place= |burial_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= British Army |service_years= 1942–1985 |rank= General |service_number= 350206 |unit= 10th Baluch Regiment<br/>Royal Norfolk Regiment<br/>Royal Anglian Regiment |commands= Chief of the Defence Staff, Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces (1981–85)<br/>UK Land Forces (1980–81)<br/>Northern Ireland (1977–79)<br/>Sultan's Armed Forces, Muscat and Oman (1972–75)<br/>11th Armoured Brigade (1969–70) |battles= {{tree list}} * Second World War * Border Campaign (IRA) * Dhofar Rebellion * Operation Banner * Aden Emergency {{tree list/end}} |awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath<br/>Officer of the Order of the British Empire |relations= |other_work= }} General '''Sir Timothy May Creasey''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KCB|OBE}} (21 September 1923 – 5 October 1986) was a British Army officer who served as General Officer Commanding of the British Army in Northern Ireland, as well as the commander of the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces.
==Regimental career== Creasey was born in 1923, and educated at Clifton College.<ref>"Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. ref no 11348: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948</ref> He was commissioned in the British Indian Army on 1942, as a junior officer in the 10th Baluch Regiment. He served with them in South-East Asia, Italy and Greece, before transferring into the British Army and joining the Royal Norfolk Regiment.<ref name="Times">Obituary: ''The Times'', 7 October 1986.</ref>
In 1955, he was a major in 39th Infantry Brigade, which served in Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising, and in the following year experienced a different form of unconventional warfare whilst posted to Northern Ireland, during the 1956 IRA border campaign. After a spell as an instructor at the Staff College, he was promoted to command the 1st Battalion of the newly formed Royal Anglian Regiment in 1965, and saw service in the Aden Emergency.<ref name="Times"/> He earned an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his service in the 1966 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44004|page=6535|supp=y|date=3 June 1966}}</ref>
==Senior command== After Aden, he was promoted to command 11th Armoured Brigade in the British Army of the Rhine, a post he held from 1968 until 1970, and then attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1971.<ref name="Times"/> In 1972, he was appointed major-general and seconded to Oman, where he acted as Commander of the Sultan's Armed Forces.<ref name="Times"/> The new Sultan, Qaboos bin Said, had been trained at Sandhurst and served in the British Army, and as part of the revitalisation of his forces during the Dhofar Rebellion he requested a large number of British military advisors. Creasey's period in Oman was effective; he quickly established a centralised command of the Army, and helped take the initiative against the Dhofari rebels. His previous experience with the Indian Army proved an asset, as a sizeable proportion of the Omani army was made up of Baluchis. He left in February 1975, with the campaign winding down.<ref name="Times"/>
After a brief spell as Director of Infantry,<ref name="Times"/> he was appointed on 1 November 1977 to succeed Sir David House as General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland.<ref name="bew1">{{cite book | last = Bew| first = Paul| authorlink = Paul Bew, Baron Bew| author2=Gordon Gillespie| title = Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles, 1968–1993| publisher = Gill & Macmillan| year = 1993| page = 124| isbn = 0-7171-2081-3 }}</ref>
His experience as a commander had largely been in small-scale "colonial wars", and as such he was a contentious choice for the position. He aimed to get quick results, and his belief that a military solution could be found to the problem put him at odds with the commander of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Sir Kenneth Newman. This dispute peaked in 1979, after 18 soldiers were killed in the Warrenpoint ambush, when Creasey demanded the Army take over control of policing. However, he had a good working relationship with Roy Mason, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.<ref name="Times"/> He was replaced as commander by Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Lawson on 1 December 1979.<ref name="bew2">{{cite book | last = Bew| first = Paul| authorlink = Paul Bew, Baron Bew| author2=Gordon Gillespie| title = Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles, 1968–1993| publisher = Gill & Macmillan| year = 1993| page = 136| isbn = 0-7171-2081-3 }} Note that the ''London Gazette'' announced the handover effective 8 January 1980.</ref>
[[File:Timothy Creasey grave.jpg|thumb|left|The grave of General Sir Timothy Creasey in the churchyard of St Andrew's, Belchamp St Paul, Essex.]]
He was appointed as Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces in 1980, but left this shortly thereafter to return to Oman, at the personal request of the Sultan. Creasey had waived retirement to become Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Defence Staff, in the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces in 1981,<ref name=lh>{{cite web|url=http://graduation.kcl.ac.uk|title=King's College London website|work=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|publisher=kcl.ac.uk|accessdate=22 June 2017}}</ref> and oversaw a far-reaching reform of the Ministry of Defence and a modernisation of the army. Among other features, the redesigned system gave him complete control of arms procurement, which with the approval of the Sultan, ensured that many contracts went to British firms. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his role in Oman was controversial in the country, with many senior Omanis criticising his methods.<ref name="Times"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=David House}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC British Army in Northern Ireland|years=1977–1979}} {{s-aft|after=Richard Lawson}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir John Archer}} {{s-ttl|title=C-in-C, UK Land Forces|years=1980–1981}} {{s-aft|after=Sir John Stanier}} |- {{s-hon}} {{s-bef|before=Jack Dye}} {{s-ttl|title=Colonel of the Royal Anglian Regiment|years=1982–1986}} {{s-aft|after=Sir John Akehurst}} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creasey, Timothy}} Category:1923 births Category:1986 deaths Category:British Army generals Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II Category:Burials in Essex Category:British Indian Army officers Category:Royal Norfolk Regiment officers Category:Royal Anglian Regiment officers Category:Omani military personnel Category:British military personnel of the Aden Emergency Category:British military personnel of the Mau Mau rebellion Category:British military personnel of the Dhofar War Category:People educated at Clifton College Category:Place of birth missing Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Category:Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Category:Place of death missing Category:British military personnel of the Troubles (Northern Ireland) Category:10th Baluch Regiment officers Category:20th-century British Army personnel Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire