George Norton


Sir George Pemberton Ross Norton was a British Army officer. He was the UK Military Representative to NATO. He is now Commandant Royal College of Defence Studies.

Military career

Educated at Radley and St John's College, Cambridge and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Norton was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards on 1 July 1984. Promoted to captain on 27 November 1987,
he attended the Military Academy of the German Armed Forces in Hamburg in 1993 before being promoted to major on 30 September 1994.
Norton was deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina as Military Assistant to the Chief of Staff within Headquarters IFOR in 1997 for which he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1998 New Year Honours. Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 2000, he joined the directing staff at the Joint Services Command and Staff College that year and then became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards in 2002. Promoted to colonel on 30 June 2004, he was deployed to Afghanistan as Director Plans and Policy within the Combined Forces Command Afghanistan during that year.
Norton was appointed Secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee at the Ministry of Defence in 2005 and attended the Higher Command and Staff Course at the Staff College before being deployed to Afghanistan again in early 2007 as Deputy Commander of Task Force Helmand and being advanced to Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services there.
Promoted to brigadier on 30 June 2007, Norton went on to be Commander of 38th Brigade in Northern Ireland in June 2007 and Commander of British troops there in January 2009 before being made Deputy Regional Commander in Helmand Province in early 2010.
Promoted to major general on 8 July 2011, Norton became General Officer Commanding London District and Major-General commanding the Household Division on the same date. He became regimental lieutenant colonel of the Grenadier Guards on 10 June 2012. He was present at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June 2012 and the London Olympics in August 2012.
Major General Norton was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 25 June 2013 following an audience with Her Majesty The Queen. Serving in Northern Italy, he went on to be Deputy Commander NATO Rapid Deployable Corps - Italy in Solbiate Olona in July 2013. He became the UK Military Representative to NATO on 20 May 2016, and to the European Union in July 2016. Norton retired from the British Army on 16 June 2020.

Future career

Norton became Commandant Royal College of Defence Studies on 21 July 2020.

Honours and awards