In memory of
General Sir Patrick
Howard-DobsonGCB
Chorister · Sportsman · Soldier · Endless Volunteer
Some day you may have to lead men into battle and ask them to do their duty, and you will do it through Love. You must always put them first. If you arrive somewhere half destroyed, half exhausted at the end of a hard march, do you worry about your food, your bed, and your rest? No you do not. You must make sure they are fed, rested and have somewhere to sleep. You must make sure arrangements are made for their safety and guards placed, runners sent, whatever is necessary, and it will be a lot. But, if you do this you’ll find that you never have to worry about yourself, because as you look after them, so they will look after you. As they come to know that you love and care for them, so they will love you, and through love for you and for one another they will be the best soldiers the world has seen.
General Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson
Chosen to open Developing Leaders — A British Army Guide, the leadership handbook of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
“General Pat”, as he was fondly known, combined a love of music and sport with a soldier’s career and a retirement given, almost entirely, to others.
His memorial service was held in the Royal Memorial Chapel, Sandhurst, on Thursday 4th February 2010. Both Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh were represented, and some three hundred and fifty people came — from the military, past and present, and from the many civilian organisations in which Patrick played a part.
This page is kept by his family, so that his life, and the causes he gave it to, remain here to be found.
Beside him through all of it was his wife, Barbara — a WAAF driver in the war, a diarist, and the reason, in no small part, that he was who he was. She has a life of her own here.
The causes he served
In retirement Patrick gave his time to a great many national and regional organisations — the Royal British Legion, the Tall Ships, St Luke’s, the Gurkha Welfare Trust and many more. A number of them carry on the work he cared about.