John Slim, 2nd Viscount Slim

Colonel John Douglas Slim, 2nd Viscount Slim, OBE, DL, FRGS (20 July 1927 – 12 January 2019), was a British peer, soldier and businessman. He was one of the 92 elected hereditary peers in the House of Lords, elected to remain after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999. In 1970, he succeeded to his father's title. He sat as a crossbencher.

Colonel The Right Honourable The Viscount Slim OBE, DL, FRGS
Slim in the Lords chamber, 2017
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a hereditary peer 14 December 1970 – 11 November 1999
Preceded by	The 1st Viscount Slim
Succeeded by	Seat abolished [a]
as an elected hereditary peer 11 November 1999 – 12 January 2019
Preceded by	Seat established [a]
Succeeded by	The 4th Baron Ravensdale
Personal details
Born	John Douglas Slim (1927-07-20)20 July 1927 Quetta, British India
Died	12 January 2019(2019-01-12) (aged 91)
Nationality	British
Spouse	Elisabeth Spinney ​ ​ (m. 1958; died 2018)​
Children	Mark, Hugo, Mary Ann
Parent(s)	William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim Aileen Robertson
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Years of service	1944–1972
Rank	Colonel
Commands	22 Special Air Service Regiment
Battles/wars	Second World War Korean War Malayan Emergency Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Life and work

The son of Aileen (née Robertson) and William Slim (later 1st Viscount Slim), he was born in Quetta in British India and was educated at Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College in Dehradun. In 1944, Slim joined the 6th Gurkha Rifles of the British Indian Army and was later transferred to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1948. He entered the Special Air Service in 1952. From 1961, he was instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, and from 1964 at the Joint Services Staff College. In 1972, he retired from the armed forces at the rank of lieutenant colonel with a later honorary promotion to colonel. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire the following year.

Slim was chairman of Peek plc from 1976 to 1991, deputy chairman from 1991 to 1996, and eventually consultant from 1996 to 2003. He was further director of Trailfinders travel company and Trustee of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL). From 1971 until his death he was president of the Burma Star Association and from 2000 president of the SAS Association. He was also Patron of Prospect Burma, a London-based charity that offers higher education scholarships to Burmese students as well as the Graham Layton Trust, a British charity which helps to raise money for eyecare in Pakistan.

From 2005 to 2016 Slim was Patron of the Burma Children's Fund a UK Charity supporting children's education and health care in Burma. Having been chairman in the past, he was vice-president of the Britain–Australia Society. From 1977 to 1996, he was vice-chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. In 1983, Slim was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Between 1995 and 1996, he was also Master of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers. He served as an honorary chairman of the OSS Society.

Slim was married to cordon bleu chef Elisabeth Spinney from 1958 until her death in 2018.^[1] They had two sons, Mark William Rawdon Slim (born 1960) and Hugo John Robertson Slim (born 1961), and a daughter, Mary Ann Elisabeth Slim (born 1964). He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London on 1 March 1988. This gave him the post-nominal letters "DL" for life.^[2] He was moved to the retired list upon reaching the age of 75 in 2002.

Slim died on 12 January 2019, aged 91.^[3]

Arms

Coat of arms of John Slim, 2nd Viscount Slim

Coronet A Coronet of a Viscount Crest Out of a Crown Vallary Or a Peacock in its Pride proper gorged with a Collar and with a Line reflexed over the back Or Escutcheon Gules semy of Swords erect Argent a Lion rampant Or on a Canton quarterly Azure and also Argent a Mullet of seven points Gold Supporters Dexter: a British Soldier in jungle green Battle Dress with web equipment the exterior hand supporting a Rifle with bayonet affixed; Sinister: a Gurkha Rifleman in North West Frontier dress with web equipment the exterior hand supporting a Rifle all proper Motto Merses Profundo Pulchrior Evenit (A recompense is fairer from a depth)

Notes

1. Under the House of Lords Act 1999.

References

1. "Obituary – Viscountess Slim, chef and military wife". Scottish Herald. 13 November 2018.
2. "No. 51269". The London Gazette. 14 March 1988. p. 3072.
3. "Viscount Slim, son of the great Bill Slim who commanded 22 SAS and gave stalwart support to Burma veterans – obituary". The Telegraph. 16 January 2019. (registration required)

• "DodOnline". Archived from the original on 3 October 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
• "SpecialOperations.com". Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2007.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Slim

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Slim	Viscount Slim 1970–2019 Member of the House of Lords (1970–1999)	Succeeded by Mark Slim
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New office created by the House of Lords Act 1999	Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lords under the House of Lords Act 1999 1999–2019	Succeeded by The Lord Ravensdale