Christopher Airy
{{Short description|British Army officer (1934–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Sir Christopher Airy
| image =
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1934|03|08|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|04|08|1934|03|08|df=yes}}
| death_place =
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| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = British Army
| serviceyears = 1954–1989
| rank = Major General
| servicenumber = 433040
| unit = Scots Guards
| commands = London District
5th Field Force
1st Battalion Scots Guards
| battles = Operation Banner
| awards = Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
Major General Sir Christopher John Airy, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCVO|CBE}} (8 March 1934 – 7 April 2025) was a British Army officer who served as General Officer Commanding the London District and Major-General commanding the Household Division from 1986 to 1989.
Military career
Educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,[http://www.burkespeerage.com/FamilyHomepage.aspx?FID=118 Burke's Peerage] Airy was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards in 1954.{{London Gazette|issue=40133|supp=y|page=1875|date=26 March 1954}} Airy became personal military assistant to the Secretary of State for War in 1960, deputy assistant adjutant-general and regimental adjutant in 1967 and brigade major of the 4th Guards Brigade in 1971. In 1974 he transferred to the Scots Guards on appointment as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion.{{London Gazette|issue=46403|supp=y|page=11380|date=18 November 1974}} Two years later he became Military Assistant to the Master-General of the Ordnance.
In 1979 Airy became commander of the 5th Field Force, and in 1982 assistant chief of staff at United Kingdom Land Forces. Promoted to major general in 1983, he served at the Royal College of Defence Studies,{{London Gazette|issue=49619|supp=y|page=685|date=16 January 1984}} before becoming Major-General commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District in 1986.{{London Gazette|issue=50446|supp=y|page=3086|date=3 March 1986}} He retired in 1989.{{London Gazette|issue=51853|supp=y|page=9950|date=28 August 1989}}{{London Gazette|issue=52142|page=9351|date=18 May 1990}}{{London Gazette|issue=52755|page=19774|date=24 December 1991}}
Airy was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1984,{{London Gazette|issue=49583|supp=y|page=5|date=30 December 1983}} and a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1989.{{London Gazette|issue=51797|page=7679|date=30 June 1989}}
Personal life and death
In 1959, Airy married Judith Stephenson (deceased on 14 January 2025).Burke's Peerage, https://peeragenews.blogspot.com/2025/01/lady-airy-wife-of-maj-gen-sir.html The couple had one son and two daughters. He died on 7 April 2025, at the age of 91.[https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/marketplace/advert/airy-notices_62160 Airy] The Telegraph
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir James Eyre}}
{{s-ttl|title=GOC London District|years=1986–1989}}
{{s-aft|after=Sir Simon Cooper}}
|-
{{s-court}}
{{succession box
|title=Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales
|years=1990–1991
|before=Sir John Riddell
|after=Richard Aylard
}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airy, Christopher}}
Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies
Category:People educated at Marlborough College
Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Category:Grenadier Guards officers
Category:Scots Guards officers
Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire