Paddy Blagden
Brigadier Patrick Martin Blagden
Career
Born 15 March 1935, he was the son of another British Army Brigadier, William Blagden. He was educated at Charterhouse School, then the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Blagden was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1955.[1]
He was promoted to
In May 1988 he joined the engineering staff of Royal Ordnance plc, part of British Aerospace.In September 1991, he was sent to direct the Royal Ordnance mine clearance and EOD contract in the Gulf, which he managed until the end of the mine clearance phase. In July 1992 he was appointed Project Manager of a Royal Ordnance weapons system, but in August 1992 he was recruited by the UN to set up their mine clearance office, which later became UNMAS.
He ran the UN de-mining office until August 1995, when he left to become a freelance consultant for the World Bank, the ICRC, the EU (including assistance to the JRC and the writing of contracts for clearance of a minefield in Zimbabwe), and a number of other agencies including the Japanese and Swiss Governments.
In 1994, he wrote "Anti-Personnel Landmines: Friend or Foe? A Study of the Military Use and Effectiveness of Anti-Personnel Mines". The report commissioned by the ICRC looked at the use and effectiveness of the weapons through a 55-year span.[4]
In September 1998 he was invited by the Swiss government to assist in the formation of the
Blagden served as Mayor of Farnham in Surrey for the municipal year 2013–2014.
He married Ann Bradbury in 1961 and they had three daughters: Katharine Brazier (wife of the former Conservative MP Julian Brazier), Anna Birch and Sarah Blagden (oncologist).
He died 17 December 2020.[6]
References
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ^ "Eudem - Advisory Panel - Paddy Blagden". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
- ^ London Gazette
- ^ "Anti-Personnel Landmines: Friend or Foe? A Study of the Military Use and Effectiveness of Anti-Personnel Mines". International Committee of the Red Cross. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- ^ "Councillor Patrick Blagden - Farnham Castle Ward - Conservative Party - Waverley Borough Council". Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- ^ Blagden