Peter de la Billiere, after being educated at Harrow, school joined the army in 1952 serving in Japan, Korea, Jordan and Malaya. From 1964 de la Billiere commanded æAÆ Squadron 22 SAS and between 1979 and 1983 he was in command of SAS group, and was in overall military charge of the successful assault to release the hostages held in the Iranian embassy in London. He was in charge of special forces during the 1982 Falklands War. In the Gulf War of 1990-91 he was in command of the 45,000 British troops which played a valuable role in the land battle against Iraq.
