War chief had doubts over Iraq
Lord Boyce Admiral of the Fleet BORN APRIL 2, 1943 – DIED NOVEMBER 6, 2022, AGED 79
LORD Boyce was Admiral of the Fleet and Chief of the Defence Staff at key times in British history when our forces went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Appointed soon after the 9/11 attacks in America, he supported Britain’s involvement in seeking Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan with boots on the ground.
However, he annoyed US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by saying the conflict there would “drag on for years” and describing the war on terror as a “high-tech 21st century posse in the Wild West”.
Boyce had deeper misgivings about going to war in Iraq and has been proved right as most people now view the conflict as illegal at worst, and misguided at best.
He pressed the Attorney General to write a letter saying war in Iraq was lawful and purposefully did not get involved in any spin from then Prime Minister Tony Blair. Of his cool approach, he explained: “I only say what is true or correct.
“I won’t try to spin things or paint them with a rosy glow.
“I have never bothered about being unpopular.”
During the conflict he worked 18-hour days and was respected for his breadth of knowledge and his determination. He kept to himself whatever misgivings he harboured, as he worked tirelessly to support forces in action.
Perhaps inevitably, he stood down as head of the armed forces in November 2003.
Michael Cecil Boyce was born in Cape Town. He was 17 when he joined the Navy and quickly rose through the ranks. He spent two years as captain of the nuclear submarine HMS Superb.
In 1971 he married Harriette Fletcher. They had two children, but the marriage was dissolved. He later married Fleur Rutherford, who died in 2016.
Lord Boyce died from cancer.