Patron & Trustees

Patron:

George Batts
MBE, Leg d’Hon.

 

Chairman of Trustees:


The Lord Ricketts
GCMG, GCVO

Lord Peter Ricketts was a British diplomat for 40 years. His final posting was as Ambassador to France, where he was heavily involved in the annual D-Day commemorations in Normandy, particularly the 70th anniversary attended by Her Majesty The Queen. Before that he was the UK’s National Security Adviser. Lord Ricketts was appointed to the House of Lords in 2016. He is Chairman of the
Normandy Memorial Trust.

Trustees:


The Rt. Hon. The Lord Janvrin
GCB, GCVO, QSO

Robin Janvrin is an independent Crossbench member of the House of Lords, Senior Adviser to HSBC Private Bank (UK), Board member of the British Library and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Turkey. He is also an Honorary Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford and Visiting Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Corporate Reputation, Said Business School.

Robin served in the Royal Navy between 1964 and 1975 and subsequently joined the Diplomatic Service with postings abroad at NATO Brussels and New Delhi. In 1987 he was seconded to Buckingham Palace as Press Secretary to The Queen, becoming Assistant Private Secretary, then Deputy Private Secretary to The Queen from 1990. In 1999 he took over as Private Secretary to The Queen, effectively her closest adviser and chief of staff with responsibilities for advising on all aspects of The Queen’s public life.

 

General The Lord Dannatt
GCB, CBE, MC, DL

Richard Dannatt was a soldier for forty years concluding his military career as Chief of the General Staff – the professional head of the British Army. In 2011 he became an independent member of the House of Lords. He is a frequent commentator on defence and security issues in the media. He divides his time between London and his family home in Norfolk. He is a Deputy Lieutenant for both Greater London and Norfolk.

 

General Sir Peter Wall
GCB, CBE, DL, FR Eng

Peter Wall retired as head of the British Army in 2015. He is co-founder of Amicus, a specialist leadership consultancy, advising businesses on getting the best from their people.

Peter is a director of the General Dynamics Corporation and an adviser to Cyrus Investment Management, a group of engineering companies. He is Chairman of the Policy Exchange, the UK’s leading policy think tank, and President of Combat Stress, UK’s military mental health charity.

 

David McDonough
OBE

David runs a strategic communications consultancy, advising clients in the UK and internationally.

He is the founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Samaritans; an Ambassador for The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust; a member of the First World War Centenary Advisory Group; and Life President of The October Club.

 

Sir Michael Rake
KBE

Andrew Whitmarsh

 

Nicholas Witchell

It was a conversation with Normandy veteran George Batts in July 2015 which led Nicholas Witchell to set up the Normandy Memorial Trust and to seek government support for the idea of the British Normandy Memorial. The appointment of architect Liam O’Connor, the discovery of the site at Ver-sur-Mer followed and, as the British government confirmed its funding in the spring of 2017, a distinguished board of trustees was assembled to lead the project.

Nicholas Witchell has been a BBC journalist and broadcaster for more than 40 years. He’s been a news correspondent, studio presenter and the commentator, for BBC radio, at major state occasions including the annual Ceremony of Remembrance at the Cenotaph.