The Late Maj Gen Norman Kirby

[Ken Hannah]

The Late Maj Gen ® Norman Kirby OBE, QHS, FRCS, FRCS(Ed) L/RAMC
1927 - 2019

Gen Norman sadly passed away in the Royal Stoke University Hospital on Thursday evening.

General Kirby was 92 years of age. Amongst his many accolades was the fact that he was involved in the last operational parachute jump of a UK field surgical team. That jump took place during the Suez crisis of 1956!

Like many I was privileged to have work with him in a number of postings over the years.

One short story…..Gen Norman had come up from the Zone to do a list/OPD etc at BMH Berlin. After the list myself and fellow members of the BMH Marching Team jumped into our vehicles and headed off to Belgium…in the early hours of the morning we pulled into a petrol station south of Hannover to fill up - standing with nozzle in hand, who should be on the other side of the pump but Gen Norman…”Sir”…”Hi Sgt”…he had flown down to Hannover and picked up his staff car at the BMH and was on his way back to Rheindahlen……”Where is your driver”….”In the back”…the driver was kipping in the back – Norman was doing the driving…”Why”….”The poor lad is a bit tired said he”….with that he paid the bill gave us a wave and was on his way.

That was the sort of man he was - thankfully he didn’t have an accident or he would have been bust to Pte.

Not only was he a great surgeon but a wonderful man and friend to many OTTs during his long career in the Corps. As such, he was most grateful to receive an invitation ‘from the boys’ to be a reunion GoH…we last saw him when he ‘popped in’ to see us on the Saturday of our Stoke-on-Trent Reunion.

Prof Robert Kirby (Gen Norman’s son) will inform interested parties when funeral arrangements are finalised.

RIP SIR