Colchester: Tributes paid to General Sir Mike Jackson

General Sir Mike Jackson, a former chief of the general staff and head of the British Army, has died at the age of 80.

Born on March 21 1944, Sir Mike was educated at Stamford School and Sandhurst before being commissioned into the army as an officer in 1963.

The father of three led the British Army during the allied invasion of Iraq in 2003, after serving in Northern Ireland and Bosnia.

Soldier - General Sir Mike Jackson (Image: British Army) During his career, Sir Mike, who was nicknamed ‘Darth Vader’ and ‘the prince of darkness’ by his men due to his cool demeanour and gravel voice, served in the Parachute Regiment, in Merville Barracks, Colchester.

A 17-gun salute was fired by the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery fire on Wednesday and soldiers from the Parachute Regiment were on parade to pay their respects.

​The salute occurred as Sir Mike was laid to rest at a funeral in Wiltshire.

The Gazette spoke to Sir Mike in 2008.

Tributes have now been paid for Sir Mike, with a spokesman for the British Army saying he “served with distinction for over 40 years” and “he will be greatly missed”.

Tribute - soldiers at Merville Barracks (Image: Cpl Stone, British Army) The Parachute Regimental Association said he was a “great leader of men” who will be “missed by many”.

Home Office minister Dan Jarvis, a former Parachute Regiment officer who served alongside Sir Mike, said he was a “soldier’s soldier” and an “outstanding, inspirational and charismatic leader”.

In Sir Mike’s career, he served in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s.

He was second in command on the ground in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday in January 1972 when troops opened fire on civil rights demonstrators, killing 13 of them.

Army - another image of the gun salute (Image: Cpl Stone, British Army) He later gave evidence to the Saville Inquiry, which found that the shootings were unjustified, with none of the victims posing a threat when paratroopers opened fire.

Tony Doherty, chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said the organisation representing the victims of the shootings would not be grieving his death, as he accused Sir Mike of wreaking “havoc” in Derry and elsewhere in the 1970s.

He said: “There will be no mourning here, we look forward to tearing down his statue.”

He became head of the British Army just a month before the Iraq war, replacing General Sir Michael Walker, in 2003.

In March 2006, he created headlines after criticising kidnap victim Norman Kember, claiming the Briton had not thanked the SAS soldiers who rescued him and his Canadian colleagues from their captors in Iraq.

Sir Mike retired in August 2006.