[11] In 1935, he left the Frontier Force to join the Small Arms School Corps as a Vickers machine gun instructor in Netheravon,[7] taking up his post on 30 January 1936.

[15] Unlikely to see action in Northern Ireland where his unit was based, Stockwell volunteered in March 1940 and was selected to command one of the independent companies formed to serve in the Norwegian campaign.

As the British withdrew from Norway, Stockwell was assigned to the rearguard and commanding a force of two independent companies and a battalion of the Irish Guards successfully held a defensive position for two days, before being ordered to withdraw.

During the withdrawal towards a small and congested harbour, close behind where troops were embarking, he showed great courage and determination when part of his rearguard went astray.

[18]After the Norwegian Campaign, the independent companies were disbanded but many individuals involved moved to the newly formed British Commandos.

The brigade left Scotland in late March 1942 and after a brief pause in South Africa, sailed for Madagascar to land unopposed on 5 May.

[19] After his success in the battle, Stockwell was promoted to brigadier in late October and given command of the 30th (East Africa) Infantry Brigade.

[19][20] In January 1945, Stockwell was granted the acting rank of major-general and still in Burma, was at short notice given command of the 82nd (West Africa) Division.

But Louis Mountbatten, the theatre supreme commander, wrote in his diary:...so Hugh Stockwell has taken over and it is possible to visit his front in greater safety!

[7][40] In his planning for the war against Egypt, Stockwell as ground commander for the Allied Task Force preferred slow, low-risk, methodical operations centered around the Centurion battle tank.

[42] Together with his deputy, the French General Andre Beaufre, Stockwell was highly opposed to the change imposed on Musketeer in September 1956 when Port Said replaced Alexandria as the main target.

One French officer recalled that Stockwell was:Extremely excitable, gesticulating, keeping no part of him still, his hands, his feet, and even his head and shoulders perpetually on the go, he starts off by sweeping objects off the table with a swish of his swagger cane or in his room by using it to make golf-strokes with the flower vases and ash-trays.

By turns courteous and brutal, refined and coarse, headstrong in some circumstances, hesitant and indecisive in others, he disconcerts by his unpredictable responses and the contradictions of which he is made up.

[44] When Beaufre suggested on 3 November 1956 that the Allies launch Telescope, namely Anglo-French paratroop landings in the Canal Zone ahead of schedule, Stockwell reluctantly agreed to the change.

[52] In 1960, on the advice of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Stockwell was appointed Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO,[53] a post which he held until his retirement in 1964.

[54] Stockwell was described as a "surprise choice" for the position because he had never attended Staff College, Camberley, and had "spent his whole career as a fighting soldier.

"[55] As Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, he worked to promote the creation of strong conventional forces, and advocated "the use of tactical nuclear weapons only as a last resort.

"[54] After retiring from the military, Stockwell became the chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust and served in a variety of other positions for corporate and charitable organizations.

[54] He died on 27 November 1986 of leukemia at the Princess Alexandra Hospital at the Royal Air Force base at Wroughton near Swindon.