Simon Mayall

British Army general

Sir Simon Mayall

Simon Mayall in Hohenfels, Germany in 2008

Born|  (1956-03-07) 7 March 1956 (age 69)
Allegiance| United Kingdom
Branch| British Army
Years of service| 1979–2015
Rank| Lieutenant General
Commands| 1st Mechanised Brigade
1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards
Battles / wars| Gulf War
Kosovo War
Iraq War
War in Afghanistan
Awards| Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service
Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States)

Lieutenant General Sir Simon Vincent Mayall, KBE, CB (born 7 March 1956) is a retired British Army officer and a Middle East Adviser at the Ministry of Defence.

## Early life

[edit]

Mayall was educated at St George's College, Weybridge, Balliol College, Oxford (Bachelor of Arts in Modern History, 1979) and King's College London (Master of Arts in International Relations).[1]

## Military career

[edit]

Mayall was commissioned into the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars in 1979.[2] From 1985 to 1988 he was seconded to the Sultan of Oman's Land Forces.[1] He was operations officer for the 1st Armoured Division in the Gulf War.[2] After that he completed a Defence Fellowship at St Antony's College, Oxford studying Turkish security policy.[1] He then became Commanding Officer of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards in 1997,[2] in which capacity he was deployed to the British Army Training Unit Suffield and to Northern Ireland.[1]

In 2001 Mayall became Commander of 1st Mechanised Brigade, which was subsequently deployed to Kosovo.[3] He received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in recognition of his "distinguished services" on the deployment.[4] Mayall was the Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Corps – Iraq in late 2006 and early 2007,[2] for which he was awarded an Officer of the Legion of Merit by the United States.[5] He was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff in January 2007 and,[2] in 2009, became Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations).[6] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2010 New Year Honours,[7] and made Defence Senior Advisor Middle East at the Ministry of Defence in May 2011.[8] He was replaced in that role by Lieutenant General Tom Beckett in late 2014,[9] having been appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 Birthday Honours.[10][11]

## Post-retirement

[edit]

In 2015, Mayall retired from military service and joined Greenhill & Co., an investment bank, as a senior advisor.[12] On 25 February 2015, he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London.[13] He retired from that post on 20 August 2021.[14]

He was appointed King of Arms of the Order of the British Empire in May 2024,[15] and Squadron Honorary Colonel F (Westminster Dragoons) Squadron, The Royal Yeomanry on 1 December 2024.[16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "KFOR: Basic Information". nato.int. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
2. ^ a b c d e Sandhurst Foundation Archived 28 December 2012 at archive.today
3. ^ "KFOR: Inside KFOR". nato.int. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
4. ^ "No. 56920". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 April 2003. p. 5273.
5. ^ "No. 58396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 July 2007. p. 10416.
6. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 2010
7. ^ "No. 59282". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2009. p. 2.
8. ^ Service Appointments The Times, 8 June 2011
9. ^ Service appointments The Times, 1 February 2014
10. ^ "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b6.
11. ^ "Queen's birthday honours list 2014: Military". The Guardian. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
12. ^ Greenhill & Co., Inc. (8 September 2015). "Sir Simon Mayall Joins Greenhill as Senior Advisor in London". PR Newswire. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
13. ^ "No. 61158". The London Gazette. 2 March 2015. p. 3810.
14. ^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk.
15. ^ "No. 64397". The London Gazette. 15 May 2024. p. 9430.
16. ^ "No. 64628". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 January 2025. p. 503.

Military offices

Preceded by

Peter Everson

|  Deputy Commanding General Multi-National Corps – Iraq
2006–2007  | Succeeded by

Gerald Berragan

Preceded by

Bill Rollo

|  Assistant Chief of the General Staff
2007–2009  | Succeeded by

James Bucknall

Preceded by

Sir Peter Wall

|  Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations)
2009–2011  | Succeeded by

Richard Barrons

Heraldic offices
Preceded by

Sir Robert Fulton

|  King of Arms of the Order of the British Empire
2024–present  | Incumbent