Lieutenant-General Sir Robin Ross, KCB, OBE, died 29 July, 2025. He was 85.
Ross was a dynamic Royal Marine who led British humanitarian effort after first Gulf War.
His career spanned nearly four decades and culminated in his appointment as Commandant General Royal Marines; he led Operation Haven in Northern Iraq in 1991, and later was instrumental in ensuring the future of Britain’s amphibious warfare capability.
Ross was appointed the British commander of Operation Haven when, after the First Gulf War, some 6,000 Allied troops were tasked with safeguarding the people of Northern Iraq after Saddam Hussein had crushed their rebellion in March 1991.
Ross’ diplomatic skill and leadership, tested amid a complex international and humanitarian crisis, earned him great respect, and he was decorated with the Legion of Merit from the United States and the Medal of Merit in Gold from the Queen of the Netherlands.
He was born 28 November, 1939, son of Lt-Col Gerald Whitehill Ross (1904-1988), Royal Marines, and his wife Margaret Dorothy Ross-Bell (1916-1992). An ancestor, Major General Robert Ross, with an army of 4,500 men including 1,000 Royal Marines from the fleet, captured Washington during the War of 1812 and set fire to the White House.
He was Major General Training Reserve and Special Forces (1988-90), Major General Commando Forces (1990-93), and Commandant General Royal Marines (1993-96), the last to serve in the rank of Lieutenant-General.
He was appointed KCB in 1994.
Ross was chairman of SSAFA Forces Help from 2000-10, and a liveryman of the Plaisterers’ Company.
He married 15 May, 1965, (Dorcas) Sara Curtis (1932-2023), daughter of Col William Patrick Stewart Curtis, OBE (1899-1965), scion of the Curtis baronets, by his wife the former Margaret Pamela Adderley Cradock (1908-79), scion of that landed gentry family.
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