Peter Hellings
Royal Marines general
title: "Peter Hellings" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1916-births", "1990-deaths", "royal-marines-generals", "knights-commander-of-the-order-of-the-bath", "recipients-of-the-distinguished-service-cross-(united-kingdom)", "recipients-of-the-military-cross", "british-military-personnel-of-the-malayan-emergency", "royal-marines-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "british-military-personnel-of-the-cyprus-emergency", "military-personnel-from-the-royal-borough-of-kingston-upon-thames", "people-from-kingston-upon-thames"] description: "Royal Marines general" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hellings" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Royal Marines general ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific_prefix | General |
| name | Sir Peter Hellings |
| honorific_suffix | |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Kingston, Surrey, England |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Yelverton, Devon, England |
| allegiance | United Kingdom |
| branch | Royal Marines |
| serviceyears | 1935–1971 |
| rank | General |
| 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) | |
| :: |
|honorific_prefix = General |name = Sir Peter Hellings |honorific_suffix = |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= |birth_place= Kingston, Surrey, England |death_date= |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, (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, being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1940 and the Military Cross during the fighting in Italy in 1943. 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.
Shortly after the end of the war, Hellings commanded 41 Commando and 42 Commando. 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.
In retirement Hellings became Chairman of the Gas Consumers' Council for the South West, and lived at Milton Combe in Devon.
References
References
- ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007''
- ''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995''
- [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/HELLINGS.shtml Sir Peter William Cradock Hellings] Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- {{London Gazette. (6 September 1940)
- {{London Gazette. (8 February 1944)
- {{London Gazette. (8 February 1946)
- He saw active service in [[Federation of Malaya. (30 September 1958)
- [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1973/feb/15/gas-consumers-councils-chairmanship Gas Consumers' Councils (Chairmanship)] Hansard, 15 February 1973
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