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Hugh Johnstone

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Colonel Hugh Anthony Johnstone OBE (1 May 1931 – 30 June 2014) was a British Army officer who ended his career as the administrative head of Signals Intelligence during the 1970s.

Career

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Johnstone trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for two years and on 8 February 1952 was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals.[1] He was promoted to lieutenant in 1954, captain in 1958, major in 1965, lieutenant-colonel in 1970, and colonel in 1975. He retired in September 1979.[2]

Johnstone became known when he was identified by the magazines Peace News and The Leveller as the much-publicised anonymous witness Colonel B in the ABC Trial in 1978.[3] This led to prosecutions for contempt of court which ultimately failed in the House of Lords.[4] The case became a great embarrassment to the Crown, due to its attempts to disguise the identities of people and well-known defence establishments .[5]

Personal life

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In 1954, Johnstone married Daniele Louise Genevieve Alzingre, a daughter of Ambroise Sebastien Alzingre, of Île-de-France, and they had two daughters. He died at Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes, France, on 30 June 2014, aged 83, and his widow died there in 2018. They are buried in the cemetery at Spéracèdes.[6]

Honours

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ The London Gazette, 18 March 1952 (Supplement 39495) p. 1596
  2. ^ The London Gazette, 12 November 1979 (Supplement 48001), p. 14235
  3. ^ Geoffrey Robertson, The Justice Game, Vintage, London, 1999, ISBN 0-09-958191-4, pp. 104–134
  4. ^ Attorney-General v. The Leveller & Others, House of Lords judgement, 1 February 1979
  5. ^ Paul Magrath, "Book review: Jeremy Hutchinson’s Case Histories", iclr.co.uk, accessed 28 June 2024.
  6. ^ Cemetery of Spéracèdes: Famille Johnstone, geneanet.org, accessed 28 June 2024
  7. ^ The London Gazette, 4 June 1965 (Supplement 43667), p. 5477
  8. ^ The London Gazette, 31 December 1974 (Supplement 46444), p. 6