Lord Guthrie had a long, distinguished and active career, seen here in Freetown in Sierra Leone as British forces arrived in the region (Picture: Alamy)

Army

A soldier's soldier: Service remembers former CDS Field Marshal Lord Guthrie

A service of thanksgiving for the life of Field Marshal Lord Guthrie has taken place in London, with several former senior military officers attending to remember the Welsh Guards officer, who died last September aged 86.

Lord Guthrie was hailed across many political and military circles as one of the most respected British commanders of recent times and a symbol of leadership in the Armed Forces.

The service at the Royal Military Chapel, with music from The Band of the Welsh Guards, was an opportunity for those who served with him to pay tribute.

Happiest out in the field

Born in Chelsea in 1938, he went on to become an officer in The Welsh Guards officer, the Chief of the General Staff from 1994 and then Chief of the Defence Staff between 1997 and 2001.

At the time, he was the only Chief of the Defence Staff to have served with the SAS.

"What not many people understand is that he brought on so many officers and soldiers in his career - and he took great pride in that," said Major General (Ret'd) Richard Stanford, Lord Guthrie’s aide-de-camp during his first year as CGS.

"There was a phrase of the 'Whitehall Warrior'. He was the complete antithesis of that, at his happiest out in the field talking to soldiers and young officers."

Lord Guthrie advised Tony Blair's government through interventions in Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone.

The funeral requiem mass for Field Marshal Lord Guthrie at Westminster Cathedral saw The Life Guards providing step liners and a bearer party from the Welsh Guards — The funeral requiem mass for Field Marshal Lord Guthrie at Westminster Cathedral saw The Life Guards providing step liners and a bearer party from his old regiment, The Welsh Guards (Picture: Alamy)

A soldier's soldier

The service of thanksgiving was "very much an occasion for his regiment, the Welsh Guards", said former captain Paul de Zulueta, who helped him publish his memoir and read Lord Guthrie’s eulogy at the service and spoke to BFBS Forces News afterwards.

"I always used to watch him with the grandest of people and the person sweeping the road outside of his flat in Victoria, and he’d always treat them the same," he added.

Lord Guthrie was promoted to field marshal in 2012, the first Guards officer to hold the rank since the Second World War.

Known by the many in attendance as a "soldier’s soldier", much of the conversation before and after the service noted Lord Guthrie’s leadership style – honour, humour and humility.