Ismay, Hastings Lionel

Born June 21, 1887, in Naini Tal, India; died Dec. 17, 1965, in Broadway, Worcestershire, England. Baron (1947), British general (1944).

Ismay graduated from the military college at Sandhurst (1905) and served in the colonial forces. From 1931 to 1933 he was military secretary to the viceroy of India and from 1933 to 1936 he was on the Imperial General Staff. He was secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defense from 1938 to 1940, then becoming chief of staff under the minister of defense and military secretary to the War Cabinet of Great Britain until 1946; he was Churchill’s closest adviser on questions of military leadership during World War II. In 1947 he was chief of staff to the viceroy of India. In 1951 and 1952 he was secretary of state for Commonwealth relations, and from 1952 to 1957 he was secretary-general of NATO.