General Sir James Malcolm Glover, the British soldier who concluded the IRA could not be beaten through military means alone, died peacefully at home on June 4th. He was 71.
Gen Glover wrote a confidential report to the British government shortly after taking the Northern command in 1979 which stated that republican paramilitaries were much better organised, equipped and financed than previously believed. In a subsequent interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Gen Glover reasserted his belief that the IRA "possessed the sinews to wage war for the foreseeable future", and that the army's role was to create the conditions for a political solution.
The report, which also identified the IRA's organisational cell structure, was apparently stolen and handed to the IRA.
The son of Maj Gen Malcolm Glover, Gen Glover was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst. His final post was Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces, from 1985 to 1987.