UAE's first chief of staff dies in UK

Brigadier Freddie De Butts, the first chief of staff of the Union Defence Forces, the erstwhile UAE Armed Forces, has died in Britain at the age of 89. He died on August 24.

De Butts, as the first chief of staff, had worked closely with General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Defence Minister, who is now also the Crown Prince of Dubai, in building the foundation of the UAE's Armed Forces. During his tenure naval and air force wings were added to form a complete strike force.

Born on 1916, De Butts was also responsible for the setting up of the UAE's first military academy, laying the foundations for the highly-professional armed forces of today.

De Butts, during his tenure as the commander of the Trucial Oman Scouts (TOS) in the region, also witnessed the accession of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966.

He played a key role as the director of the military liaison office of Sir William Luce, a former British political resident who was overseeing the British withdrawal from the region.

De Butts, who joined the British Army in 1937, had served in Egypt, Libya and Lebanon during the Second World War .