Hugh Johnstone

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

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

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

• MBE, 1965 Birthday Honours[7]
• OBE, 1975 New Year Honours[8]

See also

• Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
• Duncan Campbell

References

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