General Sir I Gourlay KCB Royal Marines

General Sir Ian Gourlay, Royal Marines, who has died aged 92,  fought in the Adriatic and Italy at the end of the war, pioneered the tactic of helicopter landings, and oversaw the expansion of the United World Colleges.

            In early 1944 Gourlay was appointed as commander of C Troop, 43 Commando (Royal Marines) and on 28 February was deployed to Vis, an island in the central Adriatic and almost the part of Yugoslavia not occupied by the Germans or their allies.   In the following months, and in cooperation other British unties and with Tito’s partisans, Gourlay took part in raids on other islands and the mainland coast.   On September 16, 1944 in Operation ‘Detained’, Gourlay landed on the island of Solta:  he sustained a scalp wound from German, long-range artillery firing from Split on the mainland, but continued to fight on until the German garrison it had been driven into a heavily defended enclave and it surrendered two days later.

            This was the beginning of the end for the German army in what was to become Yugoslavia and Tito wanted the honour of liberating his country for himself:  he had his own political vision for its development, and British forces war no longer wanted.  So, by the end of September 1944, 43 Commando had been redeployed to northern Italy.   From there they made another attempt to oust the Germans from Croatia by landing  at Dubrovnik and from October to December they contended the inhospitable mountain hinterland with the crack German XXI (Mountain) Corps.   The campaign faltered in the face of further reluctance by Tito to see allied forces in his zone of influence, but Hitler continued to suspect an allied landing in the northern Adriatic and diverted reinforcements from the Italian front.

            In March and April 1945 Gourlay’s commandos took up positions in the marshes around Lake Commachio, north of Ravenna where they advanced across the Quaderna canal, cut the Argenta road, and successfully stormed heavily fortified buildings in open country north of the road, when Gourlay’s troop fought a bitter and difficult battle throughout April 2 and 3, 1945, with little natural cover to help their advances across minefields towards well-prepared German defences.  They held off strong counterattacks, and, after regrouping at daylight on 18 April, the next night they cleared the banks of the  river  Reno.

            This was the Royal Marines’ last battle honour of the Second World War, and Corporal Tom Hunter was awarded a posthumous VC for his part actions on 3 April.   For his gallantry, zeal and skill at the attack on and the seizure of the island of Solta in the previous autumn, Gourlay was awarded the MC.

            Basil Ian Spencer Gourlay was the son of Colonel K I Gourlay, DSO OBE MC of the Royal Engineers, and he was educated at Eastbourne College.    In 1940 he was commissioned into the Royal Marines and joined the fleet carrier Formidable in September 1941, taking part in the Allied landings in North Africa and on Sicily, before being appointed to 43 Commando.  

            Postwar Gourlay was awarded the MBE in 1949 after a spell in 45 Commando in Hong Kong.   He held a variety of training posts and, after the Army Staff Course in 1954, he was appointed as brigade major to 3 Commando Brigade and took part in counter-insurgency operations against the EOKA pro-Greek terrorists in Cyprus , and in the helicopter landings during the Suez War.  

            When on November 6, 1956, 500 men of 45 Commando landed by helicopter at Port Said, it was the first time that such tactic had been used.   Gourlay was awarded the OBE for its planning and execution, and he was mentioned in despatches.   Subsequently HMS Bulwark was equipped with helicopters and converted to a commando carrier and Gourlay, as officer commanding the officers’ training wing 1957–59, and second in command 42 Commando based in Singapore, 1959–61, was tasked to develop this new operational concept. 

            In 1963-65 Gourlay again found himself in the Far East, leading 42 Commando into battle in the jungles of Borneo [Konfrontasi] against the Indonesian armed forces who were intent on destabilising the newly established Federation of Malaysia. 

            In 1966-68 Gourlay found himself in the Far East for a final appointment, but this time it was to oversee the beginning of the orderly rundown of British forces East of Suez.

             As a major-general in charge of Royal Marines’ training 1968-71 and as Commandant-General 1971-1975 Gourlay lead his corps through a remarkable role-change, from specialists in fighting in the jungle and desert, to Arctic warfare troops who, would defend the NATO’s northern flank against Soviets attack in northern Norway.  Gourlay also developed the Royal Marines’ links with the Norwegian armed forces and with the Royal Netherlands Marines.

            On retiring as a general in 1975, Gourlay was knighted KCB and was invited by Lord Mountbatten to become Director General of the United World Colleges.  He held this post for fifteen years, overseeing a period when the idea expanded to encompass colleges in Swaziland, the USA, Italy, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Norway, India, Costa Rica, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Netherlands.   He was made CVO and appointed a vice-president of UWC in 1990.

            Gourlay married Natasha Zinovieff , daughter of a Russian princess, in 1948, who survives him with their son and daughter. 

General Sir Ian Gourlay, KCB, CVO, OBE, MC, born November 13 1920,  died June … 2013