Former army boss General Sir Mike Jackson dies aged 80 as comrades lead tributes to legendary military chief
COMRADES led tribute to legendary ex-Army chief General Sir Mike Jackson who famously refused to “start World War Three” on the orders of an American general.
The former Chief of the General Staff died of cancer on Tuesday. He was 80.
General Sir Mike served three tours of Northern Ireland and was commander of Nato’s rapid reaction corps in Kosovo when he disobeyed a US order to block the runways at Pristina airport and isolate Russian forces.
He told US General Wesley Clark, his boss: “I’m not going to start the Third World War for you.”
Instead he met the Russian commander and bonded over a bottle of whisky.
He assigned a unit of elite British pathfinders commanded by his son Mark to protect the Russian contingent.
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Air Vice Marshal Mick Smeath hailed him as “one of the most inspirational officers I have had the privilege to serve under.”
General Sir Mike commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1963 before transferring to the Parachute Regiment and serving in Northern Ireland during Bloody Sunday in 1972 and the Warren Point Massacre in 1979.
Fellow ex-Para Andrew Fox said Sir Mike hailed a “regimental legend”.
He said his glare “could skewer a mid-level officer”.
And he paid tribute to the general’s “tremendous capacity for drinking every other man in the mess under the table, and a wicked sense of humour”.
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He served as Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the Army from 2003 to 2006.
In a speech to Army officers last year, at the Cavalry and Guards Club in central London, he expressed unease about Israel’s war in Gaza, urging Tel Aviv to “look more carefully at proportion.”
He said: “Innocent people, not Hamas, have suffered terribly…the human results in Gaza are pretty awful.”
The Army said: "It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of General Sir Mike Jackson GCB, CBE, DSO, on 15 October surrounded by his family.
"General ‘Jacko’ served with distinction for over 40 years, finishing his career as Chief of the General Staff. He will be greatly missed, and long remembered."
