Maj-Gen. David Houston

"Major-General David Houston, who has died aged 85, had the ability to MANAGE difficult situations effectively while maintaining a very light touch.
In 1974 Houston took COMMAND of 8th Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland. He knew the Province and its people well. On one occasion the brigade was preparing for deployment to Armagh, where the Republicans were organising a large demonstration outside the PRISON in which the political activist Bernadette Devlin was being held. This infuriated the Loyalists, who planned a counter-demonstration.
According to intelligence reports, the IRA was sending 100 gunmen over the border. It was feared that there would be a big gun battle with a lot of bloodshed, and many of the young soldiers were apprehensive. As the battalions formed up on the barrack square ready to be deployed, Houston’s tactical Land Rover arrived outside the officers’ mess. It was sent away. In its place a staff CAR drove up and Houston appeared carrying a fishing rod. Tensions eased.
On the day of the demonstration, the two sides confronted each other outside the prison. A vociferous group of Loyalists were egging on their supporters. When their ringleader climbed on to the top of the barricade dividing the two groups, everyone there believed that a major riot was imminent.
Houston recognised the ringleader as one of his former Fusiliers. “Shut up!” he thundered, “Or I’ll lift you.” The man spun round, stammered an apology and, after rather sheepishly introducing his cronies to Houston, disappeared with them to the nearby bar. The situation had been defused.
David HOUSTON was born in London on February 24 1929 and educated at Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, where he was an accomplished oarsman. In 1949 he was commissioned from Sandhurst into the Royal Irish Fusiliers. His early postings included operational tours of Korea and Kenya together with regimental duties in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and Libya. After attending Staff COLLEGE, in 1969 he became the last CO of the Loyal Regiment and, following an amalgamation with the Lancashire Regiment, the first CO of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11280441/Major-General-David-Houston-obituary.html#