Rupert Hague-Holmes

Rupert's passion for military history originates from growing up as the son of an army officer, serving during the Cold War. He has always been interested in the British Army, its traditions and history. He speaks regularly in public about military history topics - mainly post WW2 - and has spoken in the last few years at Battlefield Study days for military units and at the Chalke Valley History Festival.

The subject of his biography, Lieutenant General Sir George Lea, is one of the lesser-known post WW2 Far East counter insurgency specialists. Lea played a significant role in the Malayan Emergency in the mid 1950s when commanding 22 Special Air Service Regiment and then in the Indonesian Confrontation in the mid 1960s as Director of Operations. He was very much a “soldiers general” who, through his fantastic people skills, and leadership qualities could always bring the best out of those around him.

Rupert's book will cover the many “ups and downs” of his career, from the nadir of commanding one of the Parachute Battalions at Arnhem, where he was captured barely 24 hours after dropping, to - probably his greatest success - bringing the Indonesian Confrontation, against a vicious guerrilla enemy, to a successful conclusion. It’s a story about the leadership of men engaged in the most demanding of operational tasking, special forces work.