Born Megan Foster in 1898; noted soprano; married Cdr Ernest John Spooner, 1926; accompanied him to his final posting in Singapore as R Adm, Malaya, 1941-1942; evacuated immediately prior to the fall of Singapore, 1942; died in 1987.
Born 1877; educated at King's College School and King's College Hospital, London; Lt, Indian Medical Service, 1900; service in Waziristan, North West Frontier, India, 1901-1902; Capt, 1903; Maj, 1911; Professor of Medicine, Allahabad University, India, 1913-1923; served in World War One, 1914-1918; temporary Lt Col, Indian Medical Service, 1917-1919; Consulting Physician, Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force, 1916-1918; Lt Col, 1919; awarded CIE, 1919; Col, 1929; Professor of Medicine and Principal, King George's Medical College, Lucknow University, India, 1926; Dean of the Medical Faculty, Lucknow University, 1926; Maj Gen, 1930; Surgeon General to Government of Madras, India, 1930-1935; Director General, Indian Medical Service, 1933-1937; Honorary Physician to the King, 1933-1937; President, Medical Council of India, 1934-1937; Knighted, 1936; retired 1937; died 1956. Publications: A guide to the use of tuberculin, with Archer William Ross Cochrane (J Bale, Sons and Danielsson, London, 1915); Moore's manual of family medicine and hygiene for India (Churchill, London, 1916); Consumption: treatment at home and rules for living. Adapted for India (Butterworth, Calcutta, India, 1917); Beri-beri in the Mesopotamian Force [1918].
Born in 1919; commissioned into Royal Scots Greys, 1941; served in Middle East, 1941-1943, Italy, 1943-1944, and North West Europe, 1944-1945, and after the war in Germany, Libya, Egypt, Jordan and UK; Adjutant, 1945-1946; Commanding Officer, 1959-1962; retired, 1962.
Born in 1898; educated at Dudley Grammar School, London Hospital and Mayo Clinic, USA; served with Royal Garrison Artillery, 1916-1918; studied medicine at Birmingham University and the London Hospital; Resident Medical Officer, Birmingham Children's Hospital, then Resident Surgical Officer, Birmingham General Hospital; studied neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic, USA, 1929; appointed to the consultant staff of Children's Hospital and General Hospital, Birmingham; surgical specialist, then Officer Commanding Surgical Division, Royal Army Medical Corps, West Africa, 1939-1942; Consultant in Surgery to the Army, Western Command, North Africa, Italy and Austria, 1942-1945; Professor of Surgery, University of Birmingham, 1946-1963; died in 1982.
Biographical history: Born 1894; educated at Rugby and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; commissioned into Royal Artillery, 1914; served in World War One, on Western Front, 1914-1918; Lt, 1915; awarded MC, 1915; Capt, 1917; Adjutant, 1917; acting Maj, 1917-1919; service in Iraq, 1919-1920; served on North West Frontier, India, 1930-1931; Maj, 1933; Instructor, School of Artillery, India, 1935-1938; served in World War Two in France, North Africa, and the War Office, 1939-1945; temporary Lt Col, 1939-1940; Lt Col, 1940; acting Col, 1940-1941; temporary Brig, 1941; Commanded Support Group, 8 Armoured Div, Middle East, 1941-1942; retired 1946; awarded CBE, 1946; died 1957.
Born 1928; joined Army 1946; attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 1947-1948; 2 Lieutenant, Suffolk Regiment, 1948; served in Middle East and Far East, including Malaya, 1950; School of Infantry, Hythe, 1950; Lieutenant, 1950; Captain, 1 East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk), 1954; temporary Major, 1959; transferred to Parachute Regiment as Major, 1961; served in Cyprus, 1966; Aden (Yemen), 1967; and Northern Ireland; Lieutenant Colonel, 1968; Regimental Colonel, 1972; served on Staff of Gen Alexander Haig, Supreme Commander Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE); Deputy Commander, South West District, 1978-1981; retired 1982; Secretary, Western Wessex Territorial Auxiliary and Volunteer Reserve Association, 1982-1987; died 1996.
Publications: Soldier On! The Testament of a Tom, (Kent: Spellmount Ltd., 1992)
Born 1897; educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, Warwickshire; served in World War One, 1914-1918; commissioned into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's), 1915; service on the Western Front, 1915-1918; service with 5 Bn and 7 Bn, The South Staffordshire Regt, Territorial Army, 1923-1950; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; served on attachment with 1 Bn, Northamptonshire Regt, 3 Corps, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), France, Apr-May 1940; service in UK, 1940-1943; Second in Command, 5 Bn, The South Staffordshire Regt, Prudhoe, County Durham, 1941; served in Northern Ireland, 1942; service in North West Europe, 1944-1945; Maj, France, 1945; Director of Globe Brick and Tile Company; Director, Burberry Brick Company; Director of a brass foundry in the Midlands; died 1975.
Born in 1878; educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford; entered family merchant banking business, becoming a partner in 1904; Lt, Armoured Car Division, Royal Naval Air Service, 1914; Secretary, Landships Committee, Admiralty and War Office, 1915-1916; Chairman, Tank Supply Committee and Director, Tank Supply Department (later Mechanical Warfare Supply Department), Ministry of Munitions, 1916-1917; Lt Col 1916; British Commissioner, Inter-Allied Tank Bureau, 1917-1918; Commissioner for Mechanical Warfare (Overseas and Allies), Ministry of Munitions, 1917-1918; British Commissioner, Anglo-American Commission, 1918; publication of Tanks, 1914-1918: the log-book of a pioneer (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1919); returned to work as a banker, 1919-1939; Chairman, Special Vehicle Development Committee, Ministry of Supply, 1939-1943; member of Tank Board, 1941; died in 1966.
Born 1893, St Petersburg; educated at Rugby; worked in father's business, 1912-1914; appointed to the British Military Mission, Russian War Office, Petrograd, 1915 March; liaison officer at Russian Front, 1917; joined M1 Directorate, War Office, 1918; liaison officer with the White Army in Eastern Siberia, 1918-1920; Lieutenant, 4 Battalion Middlesex Regiment, 1921; General Staff Officer Grade 3 (Russian Section), Army Headquarters, India, 1922-1928; Military Attaché, Persia (Iran), 1928-1931; Captain, 8 Punjab Regiment, 1932-1935; War Staff, India Office, 1939-1942; Lieutenant Colonel, 1941; Director of British Secret Intelligence Service in Asia, 1942-1944; posted to Political Intelligence Centre, Middle East (PICME), Cairo, Egypt, 1944-1945; retired, 1945; died 1972.
Born 1875; Scots Greys, 1894-1898; 2nd Lt Royal Fusiliers, 1898; Capt, 1904; Major, 1915; Bt Lt-Col, 1917; Lt-Col, 1924; Col, 1928; served Ashanti, 1900; World War One, 1914-1919 (Adjt, 8 Durham Light Infantry, 1915; Cdr, 6 Durham Light Infantry, 1915-1916; Cdr, 2 Royal Fusiliers, 1916-1917; Cdr, 90 Infantry Bde, 1917-1919); operations, Waziristan, 1920; Commanded 2 Bt, Royal Fusiliers, 1924-1928; Instructor, Senior Officers' School, Sheerness, 1928-1930; Inspector-General of West Indian Local Force and Officer Commanding the troops, Jamaica, 1930-1932; retired, 1932; died 1951.
Born 1896; served in World War One, 1914-1918; commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers, 1915; served in Egypt, 1915-1916; Egyptian Expeditionary Force, 1916; Lt, 1916; service with Royal Engineers in Salonika, 1916-1918; Capt, 1918; served in Waziristan, North West Frontier, India, 1921-1924; Staff Capt, War Office, 1927-1930; Maj, 1930; Chief Instructor, Army Technical School (Boys), 1931-1933; Staff Officer Royal Engineers 2, India, 1936-1939; Lt Col, 1938; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; Assistant Director of Works, 1939; temporary Col, 1941; service in Palestine, 1948; Hon Col, 1948; retired 1948; died 1983.
Born in 1907; commissioned into Army, 1926; served with 4 Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army, 1927-1947; Lt, 1928; Capt, 1935; ADC to Sir Henry (Duffield) Craik, Bt, Governor of Punjab, 1935-[1939]; served in India and Italy, 1944; Commandant, Garlochhead Training Camp, Helensburgh, 1962-1964; died in 1986.
in 1903; served with 2 Royal Welch Fusiliers; service in West Africa, 1929-1935; instructor at Small Arms School, Netheravon, 1935-1938; Brigade Maj, Royal Welch Brigade, 1938-1940; service in Norway, 1940; service with 30 East African Brigade, 1942-1943; service with 29 Independent Brigade, 1943-1945; commander of 82 (West African) Division, 1945-1946; service in Burma, 1943-1946; commander, Home Counties District, 1946-1947; commander, 6 Airborne Division, Palestine, 1947-1948; Commandant, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, 1948-1950; Colonel, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, 1952-1965; 1 Corps, British Army of the Rhine, 1954-1956; Colonel, the Royal Malay Regiment, 1954-1959; Ground Forces, Suez Operation, 1956; Gen, 1957; Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War, 1957-1959; Colonel Commandant, Army Air Corps, 1957-1963; Colonel Commandant, Royal Army, 1959-1964; Adjutant General to the Forces, 1959-1960; ADC General to the Queen, 1959-1962; Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, 1960-1964; retired, 1964; died in 1986.
Born 1895; educated at Clifton and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; commissioned into Royal Engineers, 1914; served in World War One, 1914-1918; Lt, 1915; Capt, 1917; awarded MC, 1917; Maj, 1929; Staff Capt, War Office, 1932-1934; employed on Air Staff duties, RAF, 1934-1935; General Staff Officer 2, Malta, 1936-1937; Lt Col, 1937; service in Palestine, 1937-1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; awarded OBE, 1940; Col, 1940; General Staff Officer 1, 1940; service in UK, 1940-1942; acting Brig, 1941; Normandy landings and invasion of the Netherlands, 1944; awarded CBE, 1944; served in Greece, Palestine and Egypt, 1946; retired 1948; Hon Brig, 1948; Controller, Technical and General Services, Atomic Research Centre, Aldermaston, Berkshire, 1950-1958; died 1983.
Born Inverarnan, Perthshire, 1888; joined Royal Garrison Artillery, Mar 1916; served in India 1916-1918; died 1953.
Born 1912; educated at Wellington and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into The Devonshire Regt, 1932; Lt, 1935; service as Intelligence Officer, 14 Infantry Bde, Palestine, 1938; awarded MC, 1938; General Staff Officer 3, British Forces in Palestine and Transjordan, 1939-1940; served in World War Two, 1939-1945, with the Rifle Brigade, 1 Special Air Service Regt (SAS), and in Yugoslavia; acting Capt, 1939-1940; General Staff Officer 3, General Headquarters, Middle East, Cairo, Egypt, 1940; Capt, 1940; service in Kenya, 1940; attended Staff Course, Haifa, Palestine, 1940; General Staff Officer 3, G2, Force Headquarters, Athens, Greece, 1941; Officer in charge of beach at Port Raphtis during Allied evacuation of Greece, 1941; General Staff Officer 2, 1941; awarded OBE, 1941; General Staff Officer 2, General Headquarters, Middle East, 1941-1942; War Substantive Maj, 1942; General Staff Officer 1, 1942; acting Lt Col, 1942; service with 1 Special Air Service Regt (SAS), based at Kabrit, Egypt, and raided behind enemy lines, North Africa, 1942-1943; captured by Italians, 1942; escaped from torpedoed Italian submarine, 1943; service with Rifle Bde, Tunisia, 1943; General Staff Officer 1, 1943-1944; awarded DSO, 1944; Assistant Quartermaster General, 1944; General Staff Officer 1 and Second in Command, British Military Mission, Yugoslavia, 1944; commanded Bde, 1945; Maj, 1946; General Staff Officer 2, War Office, 1946-1947; General Staff Officer 2, Anti-Aircraft Command, 1947-1948; General Staff Officer 2, Directing Staff, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1948-1950; General Staff Officer 1, Defence Ministry, 1950-1952; Brevet Lt Col, 1951; Lt Col, 1953; Col, 1954; temporary Brig, 1954; commanded Parachute Bde, Territorial Army, 1954-1956; Deputy Director of Staff Duties, War Office, 1956-1957; awarded CBE, 1958; Military Adviser to Hussein bin Talal, King of Jordan, 1959-1961; Brig, 1960; Maj Gen, 1961; General Officer Commanding 3 Div, 1961-1962; awarded CMG, 1962; retired 1963; Justice of the Peace, 1966; Member, National Hunt Committee, 1967; Chairman, Save the Children Fund, 1967; died 1970.
Born in 1861; educated at Dulwich College; entered Army, 1879; served with No 4 Section Telegraph Bn, Royal Engineers, Sudan and Egypt, 1885-1887; Capt, 1889; Maj, 1898; Lt Col, 1905; Col, 1910; Maj Gen, 1916; Assistant Director, Fortifications, Works, War Office, 1910; Director of Works, British Armies in France, 1914-1919; Director of Works and Buildings, Air Ministry, 1919-1924; Col Commandant, Royal Engineers, 1929-1931; died in 1936.
The decision of Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt, to nationalise the Suez Canal in July 1956 provoked, in the following October, Great Britain and France to launch an amphibious and airborne assault on Port Said, Egypt, while Israeli armed forces attacked Egyptian forces in the Sinai. Britain, France and Israel, under diplomatic pressure from the UN, USA and USSR, withdrew their forces, to be replaced by UN peacekeepers. The Suez Oral History Project, an initiative of the Institute of Contemporary British History, London, and sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation and King's College London, consisted of a series of interviews with British political, diplomatic and military figures involved at a senior level in the Suez Crisis of 1956. The interviews were undertaken between 1989 and 1991 by Anthony Gorst of the University of Westminster and Dr W Scott Lucas, then of the University of Birmingham. Transcripts of the twenty one interviews were subsequently produced and returned to the interviewees for review and correction where necessary. Some alterations were made, which, apart from a few amendments for security purposes, were mainly for grammar and clarification of expression.
Born in 1899; served with Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey Regt), 1918-1935; joined British Council, 1935; Adjutant and Mobilising Officer, Intelligence Corps, BEF, 1939-1940; died in 1981.
Flag Officer, Signal Sqn, No 1 Electrical and Wireless School, 1937-1938; served with 10 Sqn, 1943-1944; died in 1995.
Born 1868; educated at University College School, Rugby School, Cheltenham, Blackheath Proprietary School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers, 1888; served in India, 1889-1894; Lt, 1891; Assistant Instructor in Fortification, School of Military Engineering, Chatham, Kent, 1896-1899; Capt, 1899; served in Second Boer War, South Africa, as Adjutant and later, Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, Railway Pioneer Regt, 1899-1902; awarded DSO, 1900; Staff Capt, Army Headquarters, War Office, 1905-1907; Maj, 1906; Chief Instructor in Fortification and geometrical drawing, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, 1907-1910; Secretary, Historical Section, Committee of Imperial Defence, employed on the British Official History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1910-1913; awarded the Chesney Gold Medal, 1913; served in World War One, 1914-1918; Deputy Director of Railway Transport, 1914; Assistant Secretary (Military), Committee of Imperial Defence and War Cabinet, 1914-1917; Lt Col, 1915; originator of tanks, 1915-1916; temporary Col, 1915-1917; raised Heavy Section, Machine Gun Corps, 1916; Brevet Col, 1917; awarded CB, 1917; lecture tour of USA, 1918; retired 1919; Honorary Maj Gen, 1919; Controller of Information Department of Civil Aviation, Air Ministry, 1919-1921; Director, Citroen Company, 1922-1951; created KBE, 1923; Chichele Professor of Military History, Oxford University, 1925-1939; Col Commandant Royal Tank Corps, 1934-1938; died 1951.Publications: Under the pseudonym of Backsight Forethought, The defence of Duffer's Drift. A few experiences in field defence for detached posts which may prove useful in our next war (William Clowes and Sons, London, 1904); The truth about Port Arthur by E K Nozhin, edited by Swinton (John Murray, London, 1908); under the pseudonym of Ole Luk-Oie, The great tab dope (W Blackwood and Sons, London, 1915) and A year ago: eyewitness's narrative of the war from March 30th to July 18th, 1915, with Alan Ian Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland [1916]; The Russian Army and the Japanese War, being historical and critical comments on the military policy and power of Russia and on the campaign in the Far East by Aleksei Nikolaevich Kuropatkin, edited by Swinton (John Murray, London, 1909); The tanks (Gill and Son, London, 1917); The study of war (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1926); translation of Albert, King of the Belgians in the Great War by Émile Joseph Galet (Putnam, London, 1931); Eyewitness. Being personal reminiscences of certain phases of the Great War, including the genesis of the tank (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1932); translation of An Eastern odyssey. The third expedition of Haardt and Audouin-Dubreuil by Georges Lefèvre (Victor Gollancz, London, 1935); Twenty years after. The battlefields of 1914-18, then and now (George Newnes, London, 1936); War commentary. Broadcasts delivered between October, 1939 and March, 1940 (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1940); The green curve omnibus (Faber and Faber, London, 1942); Over my shoulder. The autobiography of Major General Sir Ernest D Swinton (George Ronald, Oxford, 1951).
Born in 1907; educated at Loretto School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; 2nd Lt, Seaforth Highlanders, 1927; Lt, 1930; served on North West Frontier, India, [1930-1931]; served at Seaforth Highlanders' Depot, Fort George, 1937-1938; Capt, 1938; joined British Military Mission, Iraq, 1939; served in North Africa, 1942-1943, and Sicily, 1943; taken prisoner by Germans in Sicily, 1943, and taken to Italy; escaped, recaptured by Italians and sought sanctuary in the Vatican City, 1943-1944; Maj, 1944; commanded 5 Seaforth Highlanders, 1945; commanded Seaforth Highlanders' Depot, Fort George, [1945-1950]; Lt Col, 1950; commanded 11 Seaforth Highlanders Territorial Army, 1950-1953; Commander, 152 Highland Infantry Bde, 1953; retired, 1953; died in 1980.
Born 1908; educated at Tonbridge School, Kent, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into the The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, 1928; service in India, 1928-1937; Lt, 1931; Adjutant, 1 Bn, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, India, 1934-1937; Capt, 1937; commanded Company, Regimental Depot, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, Maidstone, Kent, 1938-1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; attended Staff College, Jan-Apr 1940; Bde Maj, 30 Infantry Bde, British Expeditionary Force (BEF), France, Apr-Jun 1940; defence of Calais, France, 1940; Bde Maj, 141 Infantry Bde, UK, Jun-Nov 1940; General Staff Officer 2 (Operations), Headquarters 1 Corps, UK, Dec 1940-Jul 1941; General Staff Officer 2 and General Staff Officer 1, Combined Operations, UK, 1941-1944; War Substantive Maj, 1942; temporary Lt Col, 1942-1944; Second in Command, 5 Bn, Dorsetshire Regt, UK and British Liberation Army, France, Mar-Jul 1944; awarded MC, 1944; temporary Lt Col, 1944-1948; Commanding Officer, 7 Bn, Hampshire Regt, British Liberation Army, North West Europe, 1944-1945; awarded DSO, 1945; Maj, 1945; Commanding Officer, 2 Bn, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, UK and British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), Germany, 1945-1946; RN Staff College, Greenwich, 1946; Joint Services Staff College, Latimer, Buckinghamshire, 1947; General Staff Officer 1 (Training), General Headquarters, Far East Land Forces, Singapore, 1947-1948; Senior Army Liaison Officer, UK Services Liaison Staff, New Zealand, 1948-1951; Lt Col, 1949; Col (Co-ordination), Adjutant General's Branch, War Office, 1951-1953; Col, 1952; temporary Brig, 1953; commanded 18 Infantry Bde and 99 Gurkha Infantry Bde, Malaya, 1953-1955; awarded CBE, 1955; Imperial Defence College, London, 1956; Brig, 1956; Brig, General Staff (Staff Duties, Training and Technical), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), Germany, 1957-1958; Maj Gen, 1958; General Officer Commanding East Anglia District and 54 East Anglian Infantry Div, Territorial Army, 1958-1961; Civil Defence Staff College, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire, 1959; Col, The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, 1959-1961; awarded CB, 1960; Deputy Commander, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and Commander British Army Group Troops, Germany, 1961-1963; Deputy Col, The Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regt, 1961-1965; Chief of Staff, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and General Officer Commanding Rhine Army Troops, Germany, 1963-1964; retired 1964; Deputy Lieutenant, Kent, 1964; Civil Service, 1964-1973; Chairman, Kent Committee, Army Benevolent Fund, 1964-1984; Vice President of local branch, Royal British Legion; Hon Col, 8 Queen's Cadre (formally 8 Bn, The Queen's Regt (West Kent)), 1968-1971; died 1994.
Born in 1896; educated at Bedales School, Petersfield and Nottingham High School; studied accounting in London, then worked for a firm of camera and lens makers in Berlin; joined Army Service Corps as a clerk, 1914; 2nd Lt and Lt, 1915; transferred to 2 Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regt); served in France, 1915-1916; killed in action, 1916.
Born in 1904; educated at Merchant Taylors' School; worked as a Lloyds marine broker from 1921-1925; began to write professionally while travelling in Argentina and Australia; worked as an author and feature writer on UK depressed areas, 1930-1939; worked as a special correspondent with The Morning Post for which he covered the Gran Chaco War, 1935-1936; on the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined the fire brigade and enlisted in the ranks in 1940; promoted to Capt in 1941, transferred to the Intelligence Corps for training; 1944 worked as a censor and a report writer on the mental and physical health of the 'D' Day forces; later in 1944 was released from the Army to work as war correspondent for The Sunday Times in Western Europe; travelled extensively in post war Europe and attended the Nuremberg trials; employed as a war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph during the Korean War; in 1951 settled in Suffolk to write full time on military subjects; his writing was highly regarded by his close friends Maj Sir Desmond John Falkiner Morton and Maj Gen Eric Edward Dorman O'Gowan (formerly Eric Edward Dorman Smith) and by Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart to whom he turned for professional advice and criticism, however his books never achieved critical success and he suffered from ill health and financial difficulties; died 1977. Publications: Argentine Interlude. The first roll of a rolling stone (Duckworth, London,1931); Down Under. An Australian Odyssey (Duckworth, London, 1932); Glory Hole (Duckworth, London, 1933); Wild Animal Man (Duckworth, London, 1934); Land of To-Morrow A story of South America, (Duckworth, London, 1936); To-Morrow We Live (Duckworth, London, 1936); An Englishman Looks at Wales (Arrowsmith, London, 1937); Home in Ham (Arrowsmith, Bristol,1938); Portrait of a Patriot.The story of the early life and rise to power of Juan Manuel de Rosas (Collins, London, Glasgow, 1939); Voice from the Wilderness. Being a record of my search for El Dorado and of those who have sought and found new lives (Faber & Faber, London, 1940); Germans and Japs in South America (Faber & Faber, London, 1942); Men Under Fire (Macdonald, London, 1946); Black Caribbean (Macdonald, London, 1946); Devil at my Heels. The record of a journey through Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea in the aftermath of war (Macdonald, London, 1947); Voice from the Wilderness (Macdonald, London, 1947); Cry Korea (White Lion Publishers, 1974; Hamilton, London, 1956; Macdonald, London, 1951); 9 A.B. The challenge (Spalding & Levy, London, 1953); The Pink House in Angel Street, The story of a family (Dennis Dobson, London, 1954); Dieppe at dawn (White Lion Publishers, London, 1972; Hutchinson, London, 1956); The Eighty-Five Days (Four Square Books, London 1960; Hutchinson, London, 1957); The Battle for the Rhineland (Hutchinson, London, 1958); Boy in Blinkers (Robert Hale, London,1959); The Price of Victory (Constable, London, 1960); The Yankee Marlborough (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1963); An Echo of Trumpets (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1964); Spearhead of invasion: D-Day (Pan Books, London, 1972; Macdonald, London 1968); Montgomery, the Field Marshal: a critical study of the generalship of Field-Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, K.G., and of the campaign in North-West Europe, 1944/45, (Allen & Unwin, London, 1969); Generalissimo Churchill (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1973); Churchill and Morton, the quest for insight in the correspondence of Major Sir Desmond Morton and the author R W Thompson (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1976).
Born in 1904; educated at Merchant Taylors' School; worked as a Lloyds marine broker from 1921-1925; began to write professionally while travelling in Argentina and Australia; worked as an author and feature writer on UK depressed areas, 1930-1939; worked as a special correspondent with The Morning Post for which he covered the Gran Chaco War, 1935-1936; on the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined the fire brigade and enlisted in the ranks in 1940; promoted to Capt in 1941, transferred to the Intelligence Corps for training; 1944 worked as a censor and a report writer on the mental and physical health of the 'D' Day forces; later in 1944 was released from the Army to work as war correspondent for The Sunday Times in Western Europe; travelled extensively in post war Europe and attended the Nuremberg trials; employed as a war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph during the Korean War; in 1951 settled in Suffolk to write full time on military subjects; his writing was highly regarded by his close friends Maj Sir Desmond John Falkiner Morton and Maj Gen Eric Edward Dorman O'Gowan (formerly Eric Edward Dorman Smith) and by Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart to whom he turned for professional advice and criticism, however his books never achieved critical success and he suffered from ill health and financial difficulties; died 1977.Publications: Argentine Interlude. The first roll of a rolling stone (Duckworth, London,1931); Down Under. An Australian Odyssey (Duckworth, London, 1932); Glory Hole (Duckworth, London, 1933); Wild Animal Man (Duckworth, London, 1934); Land of To-Morrow A story of South America, (Duckworth, London, 1936); To-Morrow We Live (Duckworth, London, 1936); An Englishman Looks at Wales (Arrowsmith, London, 1937); Home in Ham (Arrowsmith, Bristol,1938); Portrait of a Patriot.The story of the early life and rise to power of Juan Manuel de Rosas (Collins, London, Glasgow, 1939); Voice from the Wilderness. Being a record of my search for El Dorado and of those who have sought and found new lives (Faber & Faber, London, 1940); Germans and Japs in South America (Faber & Faber, London, 1942); Men Under Fire (Macdonald, London, 1946); Black Caribbean (Macdonald, London, 1946); Devil at my Heels. The record of a journey through Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea in the aftermath of war (Macdonald, London, 1947); Voice from the Wilderness (Macdonald, London, 1947); Cry Korea (White Lion Publishers, 1974; Hamilton, London, 1956; Macdonald, London, 1951); 9 A.B. The challenge (Spalding & Levy, London, 1953); The Pink House in Angel Street, The story of a family (Dennis Dobson, London, 1954); Dieppe at dawn (White Lion Publishers, London, 1972; Hutchinson, London, 1956); The Eighty-Five Days (Four Square Books, London 1960; Hutchinson, London, 1957); The Battle for the Rhineland (Hutchinson, London, 1958); Boy in Blinkers (Robert Hale, London,1959); The Price of Victory (Constable, London, 1960); The Yankee Marlborough (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1963); An Echo of Trumpets (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1964); Spearhead of invasion: D-Day (Pan Books, London, 1972; Macdonald, London 1968); Montgomery, the Field Marshal: a critical study of the generalship of Field-Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, K.G., and of the campaign in North-West Europe, 1944/45, (Allen & Unwin, London, 1969); Generalissimo Churchill (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1973); Churchill and Morton, the quest for insight in the correspondence of Major Sir Desmond Morton and the author R W Thompson (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1976).
Born in 1901; served in Royal Indian Navy, 1942-1946; Director of Personal Services, Naval HQ, India, 1942-1944; President of Board of Enquiry into the causes and circumstances of the mutiny in the Castle Barracks, Bombay, between 18-24 Feb 1946, Mar 1946; died in 1981.
Born 1898; educated at Rosslyn House, Felixstowe, Suffolk, St Bees School, Cumberland, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; served in World War One, 1914-1918; commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery, 1916; service with 1B Reserve Bde, Royal Field Artillery, Forest Row, Sussex, 1916; service with C Battery, 93 Army Field Bde, Royal Artillery, Western Front, 1917-1918; wounded, Battle of Vimy Ridge, 1917; Lt, 1918; awarded MC, 1918; served with 31 Bde, Royal Field Artillery, Boyton Camp, Codford, Wiltshire, 1919-1920; service with 133 Battery, 20 Bde, Royal Field Artillery, Trimulgherry, India, 1920-1921; served with 41 Battery, 20 Field Regt, Royal Artillery, Trimulgherry and Bangalore, India, 1921-1924; service in Aldershot, Hampshire, 1925-1927; Adjutant, 5 Light Bde, Royal Artillery, Ewshot, Hampshire, 1927-1930; Capt, 1929; Second in Command, Z Battery, 21 Field Regt, Royal Artillery, Catterick, Yorkshire, 1930-1931; graduated from Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1933; General Staff Officer 3, Ceylon, 1935-1937; Staff Capt, Southern Command Headquarters, Salisbury, Wiltshire, 1937-1939; Maj, 1938; Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, Chatham, Kent, 1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Headquarters 1 Corps, British Expeditionary Force (BEF), Belgium and France, 1939-1940; evacuated from Dunkirk, France (Operation DYNAMO), 1940; Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, 61 Div, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, 1940-1942; Second in Command, 2 Regt, Royal Horse Artillery, 8 Army, Western Desert, 1942; Second Battle of El Alamein, Oct 1942; Commanding Officer, 121 (Self Propelled) Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 1942-1943; Deputy President, Middle East Officer Selection Board, Tripoli, Libya, 1943-1944; Deputy President, War Office Selection Board, Catania, Sicily, and San Giorgio Acrimona, Italy, 1944; General Staff Officer 1, 1 District, Foligno, Italy, 1944; Lt Col, 1945; Commandant, Z POW Camp, Perugia, Italy, 1945; Assistant Adjutant General, General Headquarters, 2 Echelon, Naples, Italy, 1945-1946; served at School of Artillery, Larkhill, Wiltshire, 1947; retired 1948; Deputy Commandant, Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force, 1949-1952; Deputy Lieutenant, Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, 1956; Chairman, Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Territorial Army and Auxiliary Forces Association, 1957-1962; Vice Lieutenant, Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, 1965-1975; died 1998.
Born 1879, educated at Eton College and Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; Lt, Mounted Infantry Company, 2nd Btn Manchester Regiment in South Africa, 1899-1901; on half pay 1901-1914. Capt 1903; recalled 1914, to command F Company, 3rd Btn, Manchester Regiment; served in France with 2nd Btn, Dec 1914-Sep 1915; Maj (Special Reserve) Feb 1915; invalided back to Britain, Sep 1915; Adjutant, 3rd Btn, Manchester Regiment (a holding Btn) Oct 1915-Feb 1917; DSO, 1916; posted to 2/9th Btn in France as second-in-command, Feb 1917; commanded 2/9th Btn Mar-Aug 1917; commanded 3rd Btn in England, Aug 1917-Nov 1918; CBE 1919; died 1948.
Son of Lt Col Charles Mytton Thornycroft CBE, DSO; born before 1914, probably in Hereford; served with 7th Bn, Norfolk Regt (Territorial Army), 1939-45. captured when serving with Reconnaissance Platoon, 7th Norfolks, Normandy, 1940, and transferred to Prisoner of War Camp OFLAG VIIB; escaped from OFLAG VIIB, 1944, and spent 12 days on the run; captured by Gestapo and spent 100 days in Gestapo prison, died in Zimbabwe, early 1990s.
Born 1905; volunteer Aircraft Identifier, Royal Observer Corps, May-Jul 1944; died 1993.
Born 1926; educated at Rugby School; service in World War Two, 1939-1945; served in ranks, 1943-1944; commissioned into the Grenadier Guards, 1944; service with 1 Bn, 2 Bn and 4 Bn, Grenadier Guards in the UK, Germany, Egypt, British Cameroons and British Guiana, 1944-1962; War Substantive Lt, 1945; Lt, 1947; temporary Capt, 1949-1953; Capt, 1953; temporary Maj, 1954; member of Sir William Penney's Scientific Party to UK Atomic Trials, South Australia, 1956; published playwright, 1958-1984; Bde Maj, 2 Federation Infantry Bde, Malaya, 1959-1961; Maj, 1960; General Staff Officer 2, Army Department, Ministry of Defence, 1965-1967; service in Aden, 1967; Lt Col, 1967; commanded Muscat Regt, Sultan of Muscat's Armed Forces, Muscat and Oman, 1967-1970; service in conflict against People's Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arab Gulf (PFLOAG) rebel forces, Dhofar, 1967-1970; Assistant Quartermaster General, London District, 1970-1971; Col, 1971; Commander, British Army Staff, Singapore, and Governor, Singapore International School, 1971-1973; Senior Army Representative, UK National Cell, ANZUK (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom) Joint Force, Far East Land Forces, 1972; Deputy Director, Defence Operational Plans (Army), 1973-1974; Brig, 1975; Head of Ministry of Defence Logistics Survey Team to Saudi Arabia, 1976; retired, 1977; Chairman, Joint Staff, Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces, Oman, 1977-1981; retired from Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces, 1981; Chairman, Individual School Direction Limited, 1981-1991; Chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Association, Fulham, London, 1982-1991; died 1991.
Born in 1907; educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford; served during World War Two with 59 (4 West Lancashire) Medium Regt and 11 (Essex) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery; commanded 85 (Essex ) Medium Battery, 1943-1945; commanded 47/49 359 (4 West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, Territorial Army; MP for Wavertree, Liverpool, 1950-1974; Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for War, 1951-1955, and Postmaster-General, 1957-1959; Chairman, Inter-Parliamentary Union, British Group, 1959-1962; Chairman, Conservative Commonwealth Council West Africa Committee, 1954-1962; Parliamentary Private Secretary to Minister of Transport, 1959-1962; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1962-1964, and for the Colonies, 1963-1964; Chairman, Merseyside Conservative MPs, 1964-1974; Treasurer, UK Branch, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, 1968-1970; died in 1994.
Born Upton Park, London, 1890; joined HMS KENT as clerk, 1909; Assistant Paymaster, 1911; joined HMS VENUS, 1911; killed in action on board HMS INVINCIBLE, Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916.
Born 1911; educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent and St John's College, Cambridge; organist and director of music, King's School, Canterbury, Kent, 1936-1939; Lt, Supplementary Reserve, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, 1934; Lt, Regular Army Reserve of Officers, 1938; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; service with Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, France and Belgium, 1939-1940; graduated from Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1941; General Staff Officer 2, Headquarters 9 Corps and General Staff Officer 1, 1 Army, North Africa, 1942-1943; Maj, 1943; General Staff Officer 1, Headquarters Persia and Iraq, 1943-1944; General Staff Officer 1, War Office, 1944-1946; Registrar and Secretary, Queen Mary College, University of London, from 1946; member of Essex Education Committee, 1957-1965; Chairman, Brentwood Group Hospital Management Committee, from 1958; Justice of the Peace for Essex, 1960, and North East London, 1965; Hon Col, London University Officer Training Corps, Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve, 1968; member of Greater London Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve Association from 1968; Deputy Chairman, Universities Central Council on Admissions, 1972; died 1994.
Born 1861; educated at Cranleigh School, Kent and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into the Royal Marine Light Infantry, 1881; Sudan Expedition, 1884-1886; transferred to Indian Army, 1886; Hunza Naga Expedition, India, 1891-1892; Capt, 1892; garrison commander during siege of Chitral Fort, North West Frontier, India, 1895; Maj, 1895; awarded CB, 1895; transferred to Egyptian Army, 1896; Lt Col, 1896; Dongola Expedition, Sudan, 1896; Commanding Officer, 12 Sudanese Bn, Egypt, 1896-1898; Nile Expedition, Sudan, 1898; Battles of Atbara and Khartoum, Sudan, 1898; awarded DSO, 1898; Second Boer War, South Africa, 1899-1902; Assistant Adjutant General on staff of Military Governor, Orange Free State, South Africa, 1900; transferred to Royal Fusiliers, 1900; Col, 1904; Military Attaché, Paris, France, 1905; transferred to King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 1906; Assistant Adjutant General, 9 Div, India, 1907-1908; command of Orange River Colony District, South Africa, 1908-1911; Brig Gen, 1909; Maj Gen, 1911; General Officer Commanding East Anglian Div, Territorial Force, 1911-1913; command of Jhanzi Bde, India, 1913; Rawal Pindi Bde, India, 1913-1915; served World War One, 1914-1918; General Officer Commanding 6 Indian Div, Mesopotamia, 1915-1916; commanded 6 Indian Div at Battles of Kurna, Kut el Amara, Ctesiphon and the defence and siege of Kut el Amara, 1915-1916; POW, 1916-1918; created KCB, 1917; resigned, 1920; Independent Conservative MP for the Wrekin, Shropshire, 1920-1922; died 1924. Publications: The military life of Field Marshal George, first Marquess Townshend, 1724-1807 (John Murray, London, 1901); My Campaign in Mesopotamia (Thornton Butterworth, London, 1920).
James Lindsay Travers: born in 1883; educated at King's College, London, 1902-1906; apprentice at Legros and Knowles Engineering Works, Willesden, 1906-1909; draughtsman, Royal Engineers Balloon Factory, Farnborough, 1909, working chiefly on wind balances for wind tunnel; Assistant to Professor A K Huntington in aviation experiments, Eastchurch, 1909; undertook private aviation experiments, 1910; appointed as designer and assistant to Short Brothers, Eastchurch, 1911, and worked on aeroplanes, floating devices and first twin-engined aeroplanes; undertook instruction, flew passengers and raced for Graham-White Company, Hendon, 1911-1912; joined Naval Wing of Royal Flying Corps, 1912; flew and tested seaplanes and undertook experiments with flying boats and night flying, Calshot Air Station, 1913-1914; Flight Cdr, Royal Naval Air Service, 1914; Commanding Officer, Calshot Air Station, 1915; appointed to Felixstowe to investigate problems connected with handling of seaplanes on ships, 1916; appointed to Air Department, Admiralty, to test new types of flying boats, 1917; commanded test flight, Isle of Grain Test Depot, 1917; Wg Cdr, 1917; Lt Col, RAF, 1918; in charge of technical information, Civil Aviation Department, Air Ministry, 1920-1921; Technical Adviser to Chilean Naval Air Service, 1921-1923; died in air crash, 1924. Herbert Gardner Travers: born in 1891; worked for Joseph Travers and Sons Limited, trading merchants, London, 1910-1914; joined Machine Gun Section, 1 Bn, Honourable Artillery Company and posted to France, 1914; joined Royal Naval Air Service, 1915; undertook reconnaissance flights in France, 1916-1917; flew on North Sea anti-submarine patrols, 1917; served in France with 211 Sqn, RAF, 1918; test pilot and seaplane pilot, Blackburn Aeroplane and Manufacturing Company, Athens, Greece, 1926-1928; pilot instructor, Bristol and Wessex Club, Cinque Ports Flying Club, and London Aeroplane Club, 1928-1933; pilot, National Air Display, 1934; pilot, Spartan Air Lines, Imperial Airways and British Airways, 1935-1938; Flight Lt, Administration and Special Duties Branch, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 1939-1945; died in 1958. Charles Tindal Travers: born in 1898; 2nd Lt, 1 Worcestershire Regt, 1916; served with 10 and 84 Sqns Royal Flying Corps, BEF, France, 1917-1918; studied at King's College, London, 1920-1923; served with Royal Canadian Air Force, 1928-1932; Air Engineer and Pilot , Manitoba Forestry Service, Canada, 1932-1934; died in 1969.
Born 28 March 1884; 2nd Lt, Durham Royal Garrison Artillery, 1909; Capt, Heugh Battery, Hartlepool, 1914; served in France with 41 Siege Battery, 1915-1917; died in 1950.
Born in 1917; educated at Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Royal Naval Engineering College, Keyham and Royal Naval College, Greenwich; Naval Cadet, Dartmouth, 1931; served in HMS FROBISHER, HMS BARHAM; transferred to engineering branch, 1935; served in HMS NELSON, HMS DUKE OF YORK and HMS DIDO, [1939-1945]; Engineer Officer, HMS CADIZ; Cdr, 1950; Officer-in-Charge, Gas Turbine Section, Department of the Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, Admiralty, 1951-1954; Engineer Officer, HMS ALBION, [1954-1956]; Director of Engineering, Royal Naval Engineering College, Plymouth, 1956-[1959]; Engineer Capt, 1959; Assistant Director of Marine Engineering, Ship Department, Admiralty, 1959-[1963]; Commanding Officer, HMS SULTAN, 1963-1964; Captain of Naval Base, Portland, 1966-1968; R Adm, 1968; Naval ADC to Queen Elizabeth II, 1968; Assistant Controller (Polaris), Ministry of Defence, 1968-1971; V Adm, 1971; Chief of Fleet Support and Member of Board of Admiralty, 1971-1974; died 2001.
Born in 1863; joined RN, 1875; HMS BRITANNIA, 1876-1877; served on Mediterranean, Australian and China Stations; Senior Staff Officer, HMS EXCELLENT, 1894-1896; Assistant to Director of Naval Depot, 1896-1898; commanded HMS PROMETHEUS, Channel Fleet, 1901-1902, and HMS CHALLENGER, Australian Station, 1904-1906; Assistant Director of Naval Ordnance, 1906-1909; commanded HMS SUPERB, Home Fleet, 1909-1910; commanded HMS EXCELLENT, 1910-1912; Director of Naval Ordnance, 1912-1914; Third Sea Lord, Admiralty, 1914-1917; Commander-in-Chief, China Station, 1917-1919; V Adm, 1918; Adm, 1921; President, Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1920-1922; retired list, 1922; died in 1946.
Born in 1914 and educated at Rossall School and Jesus College, Oxford; joined the Indian Civil Service, 1938; served in the Punjab as District Officer, 1939-1941; ADC to the Governor of Punjab, 1941; lent to Defence Department, Government of India for service with RAF, 1941; Staff Officer, Air Headquarters South East Asia Air Command, 1942-1946, including RAF liaison with Force 136, and service with RAPWI (Recovered Allied Prisoners of War and Internees) on Java for the rescue and repatriation of allied prisoners of war, 1945-1946; retired from Indian Civil Service and joined the Diplomatic Service in 1947; Foreign Office, 1947-1948; First Secretary at British Legation, Berne, 1948-1951; Foreign Office, 1951-1953; HM Consul at San Francisco, 1953-1954; HM Consul at Denver, 1954-1956; Press Counsellor at British Embassy in Cairo, 1956 and Berne, 1957; HM Consul-General in Gothenburg, 1958-1961, Philadelphia, 1961-1966 and Durban, 1966-1967; High Commissioner in Malawi, 1967-1971; retired in 1971. Member of the United Kingdom Delegation to the United Nations twelfth General Assembly, 1957. Founder-chairman in 1974 of Philafrica Action Group, to focus voluntary aid to the Third World, later renamed the Youth Development Trust in 1975; died in 1982.
Born 1912; educated at Norwich School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into the Norfolk Regt, 1932; served with 1 Bn, Royal Norfolk Regt, India, 1933-1938; Lt, 1935; Waziristan campaign, North West Frontier, India, 1937; service in World War Two, 1939-1945, with 1 Bn, Royal Norfolk Regt and 1 Bn, Hereford Regt, British Liberation Army, 1944-1945; Capt, 1940; Bde Maj, 1940-1941; Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, Herefordshire Regt, 11 Armoured Div, 21 Army Group, North West Europe, 1944-1945; temporary Lt Col, 1944-1953; awarded DSO, 1945; Maj, 1946; Chief Instructor, Tactical Wing, Sennelager School of Infantry, Germany, 1946-1947; Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, Royal Norfolk Regt, Berlin, Germany, 1947-1948; Brevet Lt Col, 1952; served in Hong Kong and UK, 1953-1955; Col, 1955; commanded Tactical Wing, School of Infantry, 1955-1957; temporary Brig, 1957; commanded 1 Federation Infantry Bde, Malaya, in operations in Malaya, 1957-1959; Brigadier General Staff, Headquarters British Army of the Rhine, 1961; Aide de Camp, 1961-1964; Chairman, F and G Smith Limited, 1962-1982; awarded CBE, 1963; Maj Gen Administration, General Headquarters, Far East Land Forces, 1964-1967; retired, 1967; awarded CB, 1967; Director, Crisp Maltings Limited, 1967-1982; Chairman, Walpole and Wright Limited, 1968-1982; Director, Crisp Malt Products Limited, 1968-1982; Deputy Col, Royal Anglian Regt, 1971-1974; Director, Edme Limited, 1972-1982; Chairman, Anglia Maltings Limited, 1976-1982; President, Anglia Maltings (Holdings) Limited, 1982-1996; died 1996.
Eng V Adm Sir Harold Arthur Brown, born, 1878; educated as engineering student, Royal Naval Engineering College, Devonport, 1894-1899; Deputy Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, 1930-1932; Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, 1932-1936; Director General of Munitions Production, Army Council, War Office, 1936-1939; Director General of Munitions Production, Ministry of Supply, 1939-1941; Controller General of Munitions Production, 1941-1942; Senior Supply Officer and Chairman of Armamanent Development Board, Ministry of Supply, 1942-1946; Chairman Fuel Research Board, 1947-1950; died 1968.
Sir George Wilfred Turner, born 1896; Boy Clerk, War Office, 1911-1914; Grenadier Guards, 1916-1919; returned to Civil Service, 1921; Private Secretary, 1929; Assistant Secretary, 1938; Ministry of Supply, 1939-1948, culminating in becoming Permanent Under-Secretary of State for War, 1949-1956; retired, 1956; died, 1974.
Born in 1915; educated at Malvern College and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, 1935; served in India, 1936-1939, France and Belgium, 1939-1940; General Staff Officer Grade 3, HQ 4 Div, 1941-1942; Bde Maj, 1942-1943; General Staff Officer Grade 2, Long Range Penetration (LRP) force (Chindits), HQ Special Force, Burma, 1943-1945; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, General HQ, India, 1946; General Staff Officer Grade 2 War Office, 1947-1948; Maj, 1948; General Staff Officer Grade 2, Staff College, Camberley, 1949-1952; General Staff Officer Grade 1, HQ Northern Army Group, 1955-1957; Commanding Officer, 1 Bn, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, 1957-1959; Commander, 130 Infantry Bde (Territorial Army), 1961-1963; Director of Administrative Planning (Army), 1963-1964; Brig Gen, General Staff (Operations), Ministry of Defence, 1965-1966; Maj Gen, 1966; General Officer Commanding Singapore District, 1966-1970; retired, 1970.
Born [1912]; trained on HMS EREBUS, 1932; Midshipman (Engineer), 1933; Specialist Enginneering Courses, HMS VIVID, Royal Naval Engineering College, Keyham, Leicestershire, 1933-1936; Sub Lt (Engineer), 1935; Lt (Engineer), 1936; HMS GLORIOUS, Mediterranean Fleet, 1936-1937; Advanced Engineering Course, Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1938-1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; served on Destroyer HMS ENCOUNTER at Dunkirk, the Mediterranean and the Far East, 1939-1942; Battle of Java Sea, Feb 1942; captured by the Japanese following the sinking of HMS ENCOUNTER, HMS EXETER and HMS POPE, Java Sea, Mar 1942; POW, Zentsuji Camp, Shikoko Island, Japan, 1942-1945; Lt Cdr, 1944; Assistant Engineer Inspector, Engineer in Chief's Department, Admiralty, 1946-1947; Cdr (Engineer), 1948; Engineer Officer, HMS VENGEANCE, Home Fleet, 1949-1951; Engineer in Chief's Department, Admiralty, 1951-1955; retired, 1955; died 1994. Publications: With Alfred Cecil Hardy, Shipbuilding. Background to a great industry (Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, London, 1964).
Born in 1906; 2nd Lt, Royal Artillery, 1939; Maj, 1947; Lt Col commanding Robin Hoods, Sherwood Foresters, 1951-1955; died in 1981.
Born 1914; educated at Aysgarth School, Winchester College and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; commissioned into Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Aug 1934; served in France, 1939-1940; participated in Operation DYNAMO, the evacuation of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) from Dunkirk, May-June 1940; attended Staff College, Camberley, 1941; served as Brigade Maj with 126 Infantry Bde and 11 Armoured (Tank) Bde, UK, 1941-1943; Lt Col, 1943; 10 Armoured Div, Middle East, 1943-1944; 12 Royal Tank Regt, Italy, 1944-1945; 1 Div, Palestine, 1945-1946; School of Land/Air Operations, Old Sarum, 1947; War Office, 1948; Staff College, Camberley, 1949-1950; served with 11 Armoured Div in Germany, 1950-1953; Military Assistant to Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1953-1956; Officer commanding 4/7 Royal Dragoon Guards, 1956-1957; retired 1957; worked for WH Smith, 1957-1977; Managing Director of WH Smith, 1968; died 2002.
Born in 1883; served in RN, 1896-1912; rejoined RN and attached to Government Steel Inspection Unit, [1914-1918]; retired from RN and started a career in farming in Kenya, 1925; rejoined RN, 1940; Naval Officer-in-Charge, Mogadishu, Somalia, 1941; Sea Transport Officer, later Divisional Sea Transport Officer, Aden, 1941-1943; Divisional Sea Transport Officer, Port Said, Egypt, 1943; retired pay, 1943; died in 1964.
Born in 1900; educated at Eton and Royal Military College, Camberley; commissioned into Grenadier Guards, 1919; served in Turkey, 1922-1923; ADC to the Governor of South Australia, 1928-1929; Capt, 1929; General Staff Officer, Grade 3, 1935-1938; Maj, 1937; Staff College, Camberley, 1938-1939; transferred to Irish Guards, 1939; served in World War Two, France and Belgium, 1939-1940; Instructor at Staff College, Camberley, 1940; officer commanding 2 Battalion Irish Guards, 1940-1942; commander of 32 Guards Brigade, UK, and Brig, 1942; 6 Guards Tank Brigade, UK and Normandy, France, 1942-1944; Maj Gen and 7 Armoured Division, North West Europe, 1944; 1 Guards Brigade, Italy and Austria, 1944-1945; Military Commander, Vienna, Austria, 1945-1946; commander of 56 (London) Armoured Division (Territorial Army), 1946-1948; retired 1948; published The Desert Rats (Hutchinson, London, 1954); Guards Armoured Division, a short history (Hutchinson, London, 1955); The Devil's Wind, the story of the Naval Brigade at Lucknow (Hutchinson, London, 1956); died in 1957.
Born 1930; commissioned into the Irish Guards, 1951; service in the UK and British Army of the Rhine, West Germany, 1951-[1960]; Lt, 1953; Capt, 1957; author, 1963-1990. Publications: The standard bearer. The story of Sir Edmund Verney, Knight Marshal to Charles I (Hutchinson, London, 1963); The Micks. The story of the Irish Guards (Peter Davies, London, 1970); The Battle of Blenheim (Batsford, London, 1976); The gardens of Scotland (Batsford, London, 1976); Anzio 1944, an unexpected fury (Batsford, London, 1978); Here comes the circus (Paddington Press, London, 1978); editor of The Batsford book of sporting verse (Batsford, London, 1979); The earthquake handbook (Paddington Press, London, 1979); Homo tyrannicus, a history of man's war against animals (Mills and Boon, London, 1979); The genius of the garden, with Michael Dunne (Webb and Bower, Exeter, Devon, 1989).