Obituary for Colonel JM Petit OBE

Col John Murray Petit died on 3 July 2006, three weeks after his 87th birthday. He was educated at Avisford Prep School near Arundel, Sussex and then Ampleforth College, Yorkshire. On leaving school he joined a firm of metal brokers in the City.

He was mobilised on 1 September 1939 and in May 1940 he was awarded an Emergency Commission in the Royal Norfolk Regiment. He joined the 2nd Battalion which was reforming at Bradford having been evacuated from Dunkirk. In 1941 he was posted to Headquarters 4 Infantry Brigade as Intelligence Officer and in 1944 he became GSO3 Operations in the same Headquarters. A posting as Brigade Major in Headquarters 6th Infantry Brigade followed. After successfully crossing the Irrawaddy River against well-defended Japanese positions it was decided that the Brigade should be airlifted back into India to prepare for a sea assault on Rangoon. By the time the convoy arrived off Rangoon it was found that the enemy had fled. A few weeks later the Japanese surrendered and the war came to an end. He was awarded the MBE for his services as Brigade Major.

In 1946 he was granted a Regular Commission and was posted to the Second Battalion in India. Postings to the War Office and Headquarters AA Command followed before he joined the First Battalion in Korea as Battle Adjutant followed by OC Support Company. After a tour as GSO2 in the Military Operations Directorate he returned to the First Battalion as a company commander in Cyprus and BAOR. In 1958 he was appointed to command the Regimental Depot at Norwich. On amalgamation of the Royal Norfolk Regiment and the Suffolk Regiment he became the first commander of the newly created joint Depot at Bury St Edmunds.

In 1960 he was posted to the Army Staff College as DAA/QMG and then, on promotion, he was posted as GSO1 in Headquarters Combined Operations. In 1965 he joined the Headquarters of the Director Borneo Operations as GSO1 Intelligence. On completion of this tour he was awarded the OBE.

He returned to the UK on promotion to Colonel in 1967 and appointments with Defence Intelligence Staff and then the Cabinet Office as Deputy Head of the Joint Intelligence Staff and Deputy Secretary to the Joint Intelligence Committee.

He finally retired in 1974 when he took up an RO1 post in the Cabinet Office as Duty Intelligence Officer. He finally retired in 1984.

He is survived by his widow Patricia, three sons and a daughter.