Peter Hellings
{{short description|Royal Marines general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Peter Hellings
|image=
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1916|09|06|df=yes}}England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
|birth_place= Kingston, Surrey, England
|death_date= {{death date and age|1990|11|02|1916|09|06|df=yes}}England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995
|death_place= Yelverton, Devon, England
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= Royal Marines
|serviceyears= 1935–1971
|rank= General
|servicenumber=
|unit=
|commands= Commandant General Royal Marines (1968–71)
3 Commando Brigade (1959–60)
40 Commando (1958–59)
42 Commando
41 Commando
|battles= Second World War
Malayan Emergency
Cyprus Emergency
|awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Cross
Military Cross
Mentioned in dispatches (2)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
General Sir Peter William Cradock Hellings, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|DSC|MC|DL}} (6 September 1916 – 2 November 1990) was a Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 1968 to 1971.
Military career
Hellings joined the Royal Marines in 1935 and served in the Second World War as a company commander with 40 Commando,[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/HELLINGS.shtml Sir Peter William Cradock Hellings] Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1940 and the Military Cross during the fighting in Italy in 1943.{{London Gazette|issue=34941|date=6 September 1940|page=5441|supp=y}}{{London Gazette|issue=36367|date=8 February 1944|page=687|supp=y}} He was also mentioned in dispatches in 1946 in recognition of his "gallant and distinguished services in North West Europe" during the closing stages of the war.{{London Gazette|issue=37464|date=8 February 1946|page=909|supp=y}}
Shortly after the end of the war, Hellings commanded 41 Commando and 42 Commando. He saw active service in Malaya in the early 1950s during the Malayan Emergency, and in Cyprus during the Cyprus Emergency, for which he was mentioned in despatches in 1958.{{London Gazette|issue=41511|date=30 September 1958|page=5974}} He was appointed commanding officer of 40 Commando in 1958, commander of 3 Commando Brigade in 1959 and commander of the Infantry Training Centre Royal Marines in 1960. He went on to be Deputy Director of the Joint Warfare School in 1963, Chief of Staff to the Commandant General Royal Marines in 1964 and Commander Portsmouth Group Royal Marines in 1967. His last appointment was as Commandant General Royal Marines in 1968 before retiring in November 1971.{{London Gazette|issue=45532|supp=y|page=13050| date=29 November 1971}}
In retirement Hellings became Chairman of the Gas Consumers' Council for the South West,[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1973/feb/15/gas-consumers-councils-chairmanship Gas Consumers' Councils (Chairmanship)] Hansard, 15 February 1973 and lived at Milton Combe in Devon.
References
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir Norman Tailyour}}
{{s-ttl|title=Commandant General Royal Marines|years=1968–1971}}
{{s-aft|after=Sir Ian Gourlay}}
{{s-end}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{RM Commandant General}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellings, Peter}}
Category:Royal Marines generals
Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
Category:Recipients of the Military Cross
Category:British military personnel of the Malayan Emergency
Category:Royal Marines personnel of World War II
Category:British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency
Category:Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames