Maj Gen the Rev Morgan Llewellyn, distinguished Army staff officer called to Holy Orders

Major General the Reverend Morgan Llewellyn, who has died aged 87, left a distinguished career in the military to become an Anglican clergyman.

Although his family had been builders of churches, Llewellyn came to faith late in life. He was in his mid-50s and a senior staff officer working in Whitehall when, on his lunch break in St James’s Park one day in 1991, he realised that he was being called to ordained ministry.

The sudden news surprised his colleagues, but Llewelyn’s course was set. With scrupulous efficiency, within two months he had spoken to his local bishop, retired from the Army, and entered Salisbury & Wells Theological College. He was made deacon in 1993 and proceeded to the priesthood a year later; he served part of his curacy as a minor canon of Brecon Cathedral, not far from his home at Llangattock.

His work at Brecon brought him into contact with Christ College, Henry VIII’s great foundation on the banks of the Usk; an invitation to preach at Matins came in 1995. Two days before the service, however, the school was badly shaken by the sudden death of its popular chaplain. Llewellyn stepped up: preaching to a packed and grieving congregation, he led the whole service with tact and reassurance.

Soon afterwards the headmaster invited Llewellyn to become chaplain himself; it was the beginning of an association with Christ College which lasted for the rest of his life. His medal-bedecked appearances on Remembrance Sunday were much anticipated, but he made a point of not treading on the toes of the lieutenant colonel who commanded the school CCF.

Instead, quietly and humanely, Llewellyn brought his military experience to bear in his teaching and his pastoral work among pupils and staff alike. He radiated calm strength with clear moral purpose, and – from behind the wheel of his vintage Bugatti – considerable style.

Pupils who needed pulling up were dealt with gently but firmly; at a time when rugby was king and kindness could be in short supply, he reassured many that their own success lay beyond the gates, where quality of character would soon count for more than whether or not they had been in the 1st XV.

When a recent old boy was killed in a road accident, Llewellyn reminded the young mourners, channelling Colin Murray Parkes, that “grief is the price we pay for love” – they accepted it because they trusted him. He could be disarmingly open; visibly moved, he once asked for the whole school to pray for a friend of his, explaining that he had been his best man and had entered the final stage of terminal illness.

A streak of mischief regularly emerged. During confirmation classes he would have all the candidates save one link arms in a circle, and then tell the last to get inside. It never worked, after which he would bark: “Nobody said that you weren’t to let him in!” When one of the less athletic boys protested about having to haul his tuba all the way up Pen-y-Fan for the annual Ascension Day service, Llewellyn simply took it from him and carried it himself.

One winter morning, in the middle of a blizzard and with snow thick on the ground, a snowball fight broke out in the quad after breakfast. Shadows fled in all directions as the master on duty furiously restored order; he made a beeline for a slightly slower figure who had given as good as he got, using an attaché case as a shield. Dusting himself down, Llewellyn wished him a good morning and marched off to chapel.

Richard Morgan Llewellyn – he was always known as Morgan – was born on August 22 1937 to Griffith Llewellyn and his wife Bridget, née Karslake. He grew up in Monmouthshire but was sent to school at Haileybury, which had merged with the Imperial Service College in 1942. When he left in 1956 he spent his National Service as a second lieutenant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, seeing service in Malaya and Cyprus. He moved to the regular list in 1958.

In 1964 Llewellyn married Elizabeth Sobey – Polly – with whom he had three sons and two daughters. In the same year he was promoted to captain; he became a major in 1969, and was sent to the then-Army Staff College at Camberley in 1970.

A year later he became military assistant to Sir Michael Carver, the Chief of the General Staff, and served as brigade major (chief of staff) of the 39th Infantry Brigade in Belfast between 1974 and 1976; after which on promotion to lieutenant colonel he assumed command of the 1st Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers.

During the fire brigade strike of 1977 Llewellyn’s battalion were drafted into firefighting duties; he was outspoken about the fact that they were being paid less than the strikers. The Labour administration remained ummoved, but when the Conservatives swept to power in 1979 under Margaret Thatcher, service pay was dramatically increased, with a concomitant impact on recruitment and retention.

Thereafter Llewellyn returned briefly to the serious challenges of Northern Ireland in the depth of the Troubles, before joining the leadership of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1979. In 1981 he was promoted to brigadier; he spent the next three years in Hong Kong commanding the Gurkha Field Force.

Llewellyn developed a deep and reciprocated affinity for the Gurkhas, to whom he was “General Saheb”. He later served as Colonel of the Gurkha Transport Regiment (now the Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment), and made a point of keeping his Nepalese up so that he could chat to any Gurkha he might encounter later – they are stationed in Brecon.

Years afterwards, when he led an expedition of pupils from Christ College to Annapurna Base Camp (he had previously chaired the Army Mountaineering Association), Llewellyn made a point of seeking out any of his former soldiers in every village on the way. It seemed to his charges that he was welcomed as a something of a demigod.

From Hong Kong Llewellyn returned to the Ministry of Defence, where he was Director of Army Staff Duties from 1985 to 1987, after which he succeeded Sir Peter de la Billière as General Officer Commanding, Wales. From 1990 to 1991, during the First Gulf War, he was chief of staff at the United Kingdom Land Forces headquarters in London.

Many of Llewellyn’s military associations continued after his ordination; he was Colonel of the Royal Welch Fusiliers from 1990 to 1997 and in 2005 openly opposed the Minister of Defence’s plan to do away with the Welsh regiments’ historic names. He chaired the Gurkha Welfare Trust in Wales and the local branch of the Army Benevolent Fund, and a Welsh vice-patron of the War Memorials Trust. He was also a vice-president of the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Scripture Readers Association, and an honorary chaplain to the University of Wales Officers’ Training Corps.

Appointed MBE in 1976, Llewellyn was advanced to OBE three years later; a CB followed in 1992. He was an Officer of the Order of St John, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Powys.

A lover of poetry, Llewellyn also served as chairman of the Armed Forces Art Association; he was an accomplished landscape painter who later branched out into portraiture. He undertook a number of commissions, but his largest work was for the chapel at Christ College: a reredos of the Last Supper with the apostles based on members of the school community. He included himself, facing away from the viewer, his gaze fixed on Jesus.

A daughter predeceased him in childhood; he is survived by his wife and their other children.

Maj Gen the Rev Morgan Llewellyn, born August 22 1937, died December 10 2024