His father, Sir Stanley Ismay, was a member of the Viceroy's Legislative Council, and his mother, Beatrice Ellen, was the daughter of an Army colonel.

[6] Ismay would later write: "Sandhurst never meant nearly so much to me as Charterhouse had", but he enjoyed his time at the college and studied alongside many men who went on to become important military officers, including Lord Gort, Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt and Cyril Newall.

Shortly thereafter, Ismay was appointed the adjutant of his regiment, a position which he held for four years, during which time he also read voraciously and developed a great admiration for Winston Churchill, whom he sought to emulate.

[16] Due to his reputation "as a thorough and dependable officer of sound judgement," Ismay was appointed second in command of the Somaliland Camel Corps, a cavalry unit led by Thomas Cubitt.

Ismay's commander, Thomas Cubitt, was determined to end the rebellion forcefully and quickly, so on 17 November 1914, he launched a major assault against Hassan's fortress at Shimber Berris.

[22] In the attack, Ismay fought closely alongside Adrian Carton de Wiart, later an important British officer in both World Wars.

[23] Not long after the attack on Shimber Berris, however, the Camel Corps received orders from London "forbidding all offensive operations in Somaliland", due to the misfortunes of the Army elsewhere.

[26] Thus, after the armistice ending the First World War, the government sent Major General Arthur Hoskins to take control of the forces in Somaliland and defeat Hassan conclusively in battle.

[27] After Hoskins arrived, his initial plan for dealing with Hassan focussed on the use of the newly formed Royal Air Force, so Ismay and the Camel Corps were consigned to a minor role.

[57] As Assistant Secretary, Ismay directed several of the CID's subcommittees, including those for Censorship and War Emergency Legislation, Principal Supply Officers, and Co-ordination of Departmental Action.

A week thereafter, Ismay received a letter offering him the command of a cavalry brigade in India, but declined, solidifying his choice to remain a staff officer.

[73] As Deputy Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence, Ismay had broad responsibilities, and was "concerned with every aspect of planning and preparation for a war which seemed imminent.

While Chamberlain was at the Munich Conference attempting to resolve the crisis, Ismay ordered the digging of trenches in London as protection against air attacks, should war occur.

[90] As part of this relationship, not long after Churchill became prime minister, he arranged for Ismay to be appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in June 1940.

[91] From the very moment he became prime minister, Churchill "relied heavily on General Pug Ismay," who provided a crucial bridge to the military establishment.

Jock Colville, Churchill's private secretary, wrote that Ismay had the "tact, patience, and skill in promoting compromise" needed to keep the war running smoothly.

[98] As Churchill's chief military adviser, Ismay frequently attended wartime conferences and meetings of the Allies and accompanied other British leaders, such as Foreign Minister Anthony Eden, on their travels.

[101] Eisenhower thought highly of Ismay, remembering him for his "stalwart support", and noting, "He was one of those men whose great ability condemned him throughout the war to a staff position.

The two developed a friendly relationship, and Leahy wrote in his memoirs: "General Sir Hastings Ismay became my favorite, perhaps because his position closely paralleled my own".

[120] At Teheran, Ismay helped to argue the case for Operation Overlord, but immediately after the conference he developed bronchitis and returned to England by ship, scrapping his other plans for the trip.

[123] In March, Duncan Sandys, Churchill's son-in-law, told Ismay that Basil Liddell Hart, a noted strategist and historian, had somehow discovered the secret plans for the Normandy landings.

This development had the potential to compromise the entire operation, so Ismay personally interviewed Liddell Hart, who claimed to have simply "worked it all out for himself" without any access to secret information.

[124] After their interview, Ismay directed the matter to the MI5, who never found evidence of wrongdoing, although it is suspected that Liddell Hart may in fact have received information from military planners.

From December 1945 to February 1946, Ismay worked with a small committee to draft the Statement Relating to Defence, which formed the basis of reforms implemented by Attlee later that year.

[163] Throughout the period immediately following independence, Ismay also tried to ensure that stories printed in the Indian and Pakistani press about the partition were accurate, but once again he was largely unsuccessful.

[166][167] Shortly after Ismay returned from the United Nations, Prime Minister Attlee asked him to become the chairman of the Council of the Festival of Britain, scheduled to take place in 1951.

In January 1952, he accompanied Churchill to a meeting in Ottawa about the alliance,[178] and in February 1952 he attended the NATO Lisbon Conference as the British Ministry of Defence representative.

"[180] At the Lisbon Conference, the members of NATO agreed to appoint a secretary general who would direct the organisation's staff and serve as Vice-Chairman of the North Atlantic Council.

[188] While Ismay "deemed it wise not to step too boldly in a political role" in disputes among the members, he asserted himself strongly on issues relevant to the organisation of NATO.

[196] While Secretary General, Ismay is also credited as having been the first person to say that the purpose of NATO was "to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down,"[2] a saying that has since become a common way to quickly describe the alliance.