Former British Army chief Sir John Chapple dies aged 90

Flags will be flown at half-mast in Gibraltar after Sir John Chapple, who had held the position of governor of Gibraltar in the 90s, passed away.
General Sir John Chapple (PA)
PA Archive
Rebecca Speare-Cole26 March 2022

Field Marshal Sir John Chapple, former British Army chief and governor of Gibraltar, has died aged 90, the government of the overseas territory said.

In a statement on Saturday, the Gibraltar government said flags will fly at half-mast on Sunday and on the day of Sir John’s funeral as a “sign of respect and affection from the people of Gibraltar”.

Sir Joe Bossano, who was chief minister at the time that Sir John was governor, said: “I am very sorry to hear of the death of John Chapple.

“He was a good friend and very supportive of my government at the time that he was governor, even though at that time we had our fair share of disputes with London.

“Despite that, he was really helpful to all our plans and actions and I enjoyed working with him given his great sense of humour.

“I remember him very fondly and pass my condolences to Lady Chapple and his children.”

Sir John was governor and commander-in-chief of Gibraltar between 1993 and 1995 after retiring as chief of the general staff – the professional head of the British Army – a year earlier.

He read modern languages and history at Trinity College, Cambridge, before rising through the ranks of the army.

Throughout his career, he held roles like Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong, director of military operations, UK, and commander-in-chief of UK Land Forces, and was knighted in 1985.

In 1988, Sir John was appointed chief of the general staff, where he provided military advice to the government on the Gulf War before retiring with the promotion to field marshal in 1992.

After retiring, he took up the position of president of the Zoological Society of London as well as governor of Gibraltar.

Fabian Picardo, chief minister of Gibraltar, said: “I have been greatly saddened to hear of the death of former Governor Field Marshal Sir John Chapple.

“Sir John remained, throughout his retirement, a huge supporter of Gibraltar, attending all our events when he could.

“I last saw him at a Gibraltar Day event in London before the pandemic.

“He was greatly missed on Monday when all former Governors met in London on the occasion of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment mounting the Guard at Buckingham Palace, when he would have been in his element.”

Richard Burge, former director-general at the Zoological Society of London, also paid tribute to Sir John, tweeting: “I remember Sir John fondly as a constant source of wise counsel and support during difficult days when I was DG at @OfficialZSL.

“My father in law was his staff sergeant in Germany.

“A remarkable Briton and a loss.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in