ADRIAN HILL

JOHN ESMONDE-WHITE

Former soldier and skydiving instructor, retired British diplomat Adrian Hill made his first parachute jump aged 18 and while still a teenager became an officer in the Royal Engineers - his first overseas exercise as a young paratrooper was a night landing on Utah Beach in Normandy. As a diplomat he experienced more than his fair share of wars serving in most trouble spots frequently in the news. Present throughout the huge tank battle for Lahore in 1965, next he served two years in the Near East when Israel fought the Arabs in 1967. Afterwards came two years in Vietnam where he spent much time on combat operations with US and South Vietnamese Forces - followed by Ireland then a reward posting in Switzerland where he met his wife. Adrian next became Director of British Information Services across Canada. 

Apart from the top secret COBRA committee, Adrian was involved in two Summits, the small team that conceived the embryo Channel Tunnel, and Seoul's 1988 Olympic Games.  On retirement he became a member of Britain's leading industrial forum, the Confederation of British Industry Council.

An author of big international spy stories, Adrian has written three books - with another nearly finished - articles on strategy, armoured and airborne warfare for the internationally respected Royal United Services Institute Journal, also with Ambassador Francis (Terry) McNamara part of the State Department’s official history of its role during the Vietnam War.

During his military and diplomatic career Adrian served alongside veterans of D-Day and other legendary operations - also with six of Winston Churchill's wartime team at 10 Downing Street. Apart from his professional duties, as a keen military historian he has studied battlefields and campaigns throughout Britain, Europe, the Near East, Asia and North America. 

Adrian's wife is Swiss. They have a son and a daughter, both grown up. As a family they all ski. Adrian also enjoys tennis, walking in the Alps and sea swimming in summer.

He belongs to the Institute of Tourist Guiding, the Royal United Services Institute and its History Circle, the Diplomatic Service Association, the Friends of the Imperial War Museum Duxford, the National Trust and English Heritage, the City Swiss, the Bern Waistcoat Club, the Sky Soldiers Association and Brooks's.

First commissioned into the Royal Artillery, Lieutenant Colonel John Esmonde-White enjoyed 30 years of service holding operational, command and staff appointments.

As a staff officer, John chaired the NATO panel for countering nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and was actively involved in a joint development programme with the US Armed Forces.

During "Desert Storm" John was in charge of the Whitehall Crisis Management Cell responsible for briefing the UK Chiefs of Staff.

Coming from an old Irish military family,  two of his forbears have been awarded the Victoria Cross, one during the Crimean War, the second for the famous attack by torpedo armed bi-planes on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau when the German battlecruisers made their dash through the Dover Strait. John's father served in the Royal Artillery throughout the war and afterwards at NATO was Field Marshal Montgomery’s Military Assistant. John has a fund of ' Monty ' anecdotes. His father's papers give fascinating insights into the mind, personality and working methods of ' Monty.'

Much of John's childhood was spent in Normandy where his father grew up. John graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. His fascination with military history dates from a time during his career when he organised education programmes for young soldiers.

John and his wife have a grown up daughter. He is a member of the Savage Club and the Royal London Yacht Club - he's never happier than at the helm of his sailing boat.

Click Here CCcto Read Adrian's Trip Down Memory Lane