Army Career
Born into a Scottish landed family, Guthrie was the elder son of the late Ronald Guthrie and Nina Guthrie (née Llewelyn). and educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst,
Guthrie was commissioned into the Welsh Guards on 25 July 1959. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 June 1961 and Captain on 25 July 1965. In 1966 he became a troop commander with 22 Special Air Service Regiment serving in Aden, the Persian Gulf, Malaysia and East Africa and then in 1968 he became a squadron commander with 22 Special Air Service Regiment serving in the Persian Gulf and the United Kingdom. He returned to the Welsh Guards in Münster in 1970 and, following his promotion to Major on 31 December 1970, he was given command a mechanised infantry company in the 1st Battalion. He became Military Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff in 1973 and, following a year as Second in Command of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in London and Cyprus and having been promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 31 December 1975, he became Brigade Major for the Household Division in 1976.
He was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in 1977 in which role he was deployed to Berlin. Promoted to Colonel on 31 December 1979, he undertook a tour of duty in Northern Ireland in Spring 1980 for which he was appointed OBE. In 1980 he was also briefly Commander of British Forces in the New Hebrides. He then spent two years as Colonel on the General Staff for Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence. Promoted to Brigadier on 31 December 1981, he became Brigade Commander of 4th Armoured Brigade in 1982. In 1984 he was made Chief of Staff for 1st British Corps in Bielefeld. Following his appointment as General Officer Commanding North East District and Commander 2nd Infantry Division based in York on 18 January 1986, he was given the substantive rank of Major-General on 31 March 1986.
On 24 November 1987 Guthrie became Assistant Chief of the General Staff at the Ministry of Defence. On 2 October 1989 he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and appointed General Officer Commanding 1st British Corps, and, having been appointed KCB in the New Year Honours 1990, he relinquished his command on 2 December 1991.
He was appointed Commander of Northern Army Group and British Army of the Rhine on 7 January 1992 and, following promotion to (full) General on 14 February 1992, became ADC to the Queen on 13 July 1993. He then became Chief of the General Staff (CGS) on 15 March 1994, being advanced to GCB in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1994. As CGS, he was responsible for providing strategic military advice to the British Government on the deployment of troops for the Bosnian War. He went on to be Chief of the Defence Staff on 2 April 1997, in which role he advised the British Government on the conduct of the Kosovo War, before retiring in 2001.
Guthrie was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Intelligence Corps on 1 March 1986, Colonel of the Life Guards and Gold Stick-in-Waiting to The Queen on 1 January 1999 and Colonel Commandant of the SAS Regiment in 2000.
Read more about this topic: Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie Of Craigiebank
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