The Wipers Times was first produced in Feb 1916 in Ypres, Belgium. Apart from occasional gaps when some of the larger battles of the Western Front were being fought, it ran until Dec 1918. Except for the final number, the paper was never printed out of the front area and at one time the printing press was within 700 yards of the front line and above ground. The founder and editor of the paper was Capt F J Roberts, 12 Bn Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regt), 24 Div, British Armies in France. On 4 Sep 1914 24 Div was concentrated between St Pol and Etaple and for the remainder of the war it served on the Western Front in France and Belgium. Shortly after the Battle of Loos, Sep 1915, 24 Div moved to the Ypres Salient, where the Wipers Times was founded. From 1916 to 1918, the Wipers Times incorporated the New Church Times, the Kemmel Times, the Somme Times, the BEF Times, and the Better Times, each of which consisted of lampoons and reflections, poems and 'advertisements' satirising the military and political situation of World War One
Unknown
Born 1933; educated Beaudesert Park, Minchinhampton, and Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; Junior Officer, 1951; served in HM Ships Devonshire, Vanguard, Verulam, Newfoundland, Jewel, Victorious, Naiad; specialised in Gunnery, 1960; Commanded HMS Yarnton, 1962-1963, HMS Bacchante, 1971-1972; MoD, 1972-1975; Commanded HMS Newcastle, 1977-1979; Captain, Britannia RNC, 1980-1982; Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, 1982-1985; Flag Officer, Third Flotilla, and Commander, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Striking Fleet, 1985-1987; C-in-C, Fleet, Allied C-in-C, Channel, and C-in-C, East Atlantic, 1987-1989; First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, and First and Principal Naval ADC to the Queen, 1989-1993; KCB, 1987; GCB, 1989. Publications The Royal Navy-Today and Tomorrow 1993.
Ruhleben Camp was an internment camp near Berlin, Germany, which housed civilians of the Allied Nations who were living, working or holidaying in Germany on the outbreak of World War One. Camp detainees were allowed to administer their own affairs and were provided with amenities including a printing press. The volumes belonged to William Hunter, Chief Engineer aboard civilian ship the EDWIN HUNTER, which was docked in Kiel, Germany, at the outbreak of World War One.
Born, 1931; graduated from Sandhurst, 1952; commissioned into 3 Hussars as 2 Lieutenant, 1952; Lieutenant, 1954; seconded to Federation Armoured Car Regiment, Special Military Forces, Malaya, 1955; Captain, 1958; joined 16/5 Queen's Royal Lancers, 1958; Major, 1965; Lieutenant Colonel, 1973; posted to Cyprus, 1974; retired c 1985; Commander, Devon and Cornwall Training Area; died, 2000.
Born 1930; enlisted, Royal Corps of Signals, 1949; commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals, 1951; served in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), Germany; Lt, 1953; temporary Capt, 1956-1957; Adjutant, Singapore District Signal Regt [1957]; Capt, 1957; on British Liaison Staff, Australia; Maj, 1964; graduated from the Technical Staff Course, Royal Military College ofScience, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, 1965; Sqn commander, 22 Signals Regt, 1966; commanded winter warfare training exercise WHITETHRUST, Norway, 1966; Lt Col, 1971; General Staff Officer 1 (Signals), SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), 1971; died 1972.
Born in 1916; educated at Loretto School and Pembroke College, Cambridge; joined Cambridge University Auxiliary Air Squadron, 1936-1938; No 603 City of Edinburgh Sqn, Auxiliary Air Force, 1939-1941; involved in repelling German air attack on the Forth Road Bridge, Oct 1939; took part in Battle of Britain, 1940; served as night fighter pilot, 1941; served with 539 Sqn,1942-1943, and 219 Sqn, UK and North Africa, 1943; in charge of night fighter training at RAF HQ Command, 1944-1945; 613 Sqn, Auxiliary Air Force, 1946-1949; became excecutive director of a consultancy firm which pioneered the process of continuous casting of steel, 1950; died in 1982.
Born c.1918, joined RAFVR 1938; Sgt 1938; Pilot Officer 1939; Flying Officer 1940; 53 Sqn, Thorney Island, Jan-Apr 1941, flying Blenheims, made 17 operational flights, mainly against shipping and French coastal targets; Flight Lt 1941; 297 Sqn, Hurn, May 1942- Jan 1943, mainly involved in airborne troop training; Sqn Ldr 1942; AFC 1942; Sqn Ldr "Tactics" 38 Wing, Northavon, Feb 1943 - Aug 1944; Wg Cdr 1944; commanded 296 Sqn, Sep 1944 - May 1945, mainly involved in airborne training and operations including Battle of Arnhem (Operation MARKET GARDEN), Sep 1944; OBE 1945; Wg Cdr Ops, HQ 38 Group, 1947-48; Staff College 1948; Gp Capt 1948; retired 1960; died 1999.
Born 1906; educated at Haileybury, the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and Caius College and Gonville College, Cambridge University; commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers, 1926; Secretary, Royal Engineers Flying Club, 1934-1935; service in Palestine, 1936; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; service in the Middle East, Italy, the Balkans and the Far East, 1941-1944; served with 7 Armoured Div, Western Desert [1939-1942]; service with Special Operations Executive (SOE), Greece, 1942-1943; commanded British Military Mission to Greek partisans in German occupied Greece, Jul 1942-Sep 1943; commanded operation to demolish the Gorgopotamos viaduct, Greece, Nov 1942; awarded DSO, 1943; commanded Operation WASHING, the destruction of the Asopos viaduct, Greece, Jun 1943; temporary Brig, 1943; awarded CBE, 1944; served in North West Europe, 1944-1945; service in the Far East, 1945; Lt Col, 1946; Col, 1949; served in 1 Commonwealth Div, Korean War, 1951-1952; Brig, 1955; Chief Engineer, British Troops in Egypt, 1955-1956; Deputy Director, Personnel Administration, War Office, 1956-1959; retired, 1959; Chief Civil Engineer, Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company Limited, 1959-1964; Construction Manager, Power Gas Corporation Limited, Davy-Ashmore Group, 1964-1968; Regional Secretary, British Field Sports Society, 1968-1971; died 1997.
Publications: Greek entanglement (Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1955).
Descriptions of Greek resistance groups (Greek: andartes) related to this collection:
ÅÁÌ: The National Liberation Front (Greek: Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo) led by Georges Siados was a Communist group affiliated with the KKE - the Communist Party of Greece (Greek: Kommounistiko Komma Elladas).
The military arm of EAM was ELAS, The National People's Liberation Army, (Greek: Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos), led by Ares Velouchiotis (real name Athanasios (Thanasis) Klaras).
EDES: The National Republican Greek League (Greek: Ethnikos Demokratikos Ellenikos Syndesmos), was an anti-Communist, Republican group, led by political leader Nikolaos Plasteras and military leader Gen Napoleon Zervas.
EKKA: National and Social Liberation (Greek: Ethnike kai Koinonike Apeleftherosis) led by Demetrios Psarros was a liberal, anti-Communist, Republican group.
Born Leeds 1915 (Thomas Robert Fidgett), adopted mother's maiden name, Nelson, by deed poll, 1936; joined RAF, 1937, spent four years as a flying instructor in Britain and Rhodesia, posted to Middle East, 1941, and joined 37 Squadron, flying Wellington bombers, June 1942. Completed 22 operational flights; crash landed in Western Desert, approximately 50 miles south of Sollum, 18 Sep 1942; subsequently captured by German forces and transferred to Stalag Luft III at Sagen, Silesia, Germany; assisted with construction of three escape tunnels and with escape of 76 allied airmen, Mar 1944; recaptured and held in Gestapo prison at Gorlitz; commercial pilot with KLM, 1946-1952; accident investigator, Air Accident Investigation Branch, 1952-1957 and International Civil Aviation Organisation, 1957-1975; died 1999.
Born in 1918; joined Royal Fusiliers, [1939]; served with SOE Force 133, North West Greece, 1943-1944.
Born in 1884; joined Royal Artillery, 1902; served in India, [1909-1912]; served in France and Belgium, 1914-1919; Bde Maj, France, 1915; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, France, 1915-1917; member of Mount Everest expedition, 1922; Bde Maj, Turkey, 1922-1923; leader, Mount Everest expedition, 1924; publication of The fight for Everest, 1924 (E Arnold and Co, London, 1925); General Staff Officer Grade 2, War Office, 1926-1928; Instructor, Staff College, Quetta, 1929-1932; Commander, Royal Artillery, 1 Div, Aldershot, 1932-1934; Brig, General Staff, Aldershot Command, 1934-1938; ADC to King George VI, 1937-1938; Commander, Madras District, India, 1938-1940; Acting Governor, Hong Kong, 1940-1941; commanded Western (Independent) District, India; retired pay, 1942; Col Commandant, Royal Horse Artillery, 1947-1951; died in 1954.
Born in 1889; attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst, 1908-1909; joined 2 Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 1909; served in Malta with Scottish Rifles, 1911-1912; Signal Officer of 22 Brigade, 7 Division, 1914; appointed Captain; command of 7 Division Signal Company, 1915; Brigade Major, 91 Brigade in 7 Division, 1916; Brigade Major, 185 Brigade in 62 Division, 1917; appointed temporary Lt Col and command of 2 Infantry Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company, 7 Division, 1917; capture of Grave di Papadopoli, River Piave in Italy, 1918; attended Staff College, Camberley, 1920; Brigade Major, Experimental Brigade, 1921; Adjutant, The Cameronians, 1924; Company Commander, Sandhurst, 1925-1927; Instructor, Staff College in Camberley, 1927-1929; service with 1 Battalion, The Cameronians in Egypt, 1930; service in Lucknow, India, 1931-1932; General Staff Officer, Grade 2, War Office, 1932-1934; Imperial Defence College, London, 1935; command of Peshawar Brigade, North West Frontier Province, India, 1936-1938; command of 7 Infantry Division and Military Governor in Palestine, 1938-1939; 7 Division HQ transferred to Mersa Matruh, Egypt, 1939; Commander, Western Desert Force in Egypt, 1940; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, British Troops in Egypt, 1941; captured and imprisoned in Castle Vincigliata, Italy, 1941; escape and arrival in England, 1943; command of 8 Corps, North West Europe, 1944; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command in India, 1945; Gen, 1945; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, North Western Army, India, 1945-1946; Adjutant General to the Forces, 1946; ADC General to the King, 1946; resigned as Adjutant General, 1947; Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, 1947; retired, 1948; Commandant of the Army Cadet Force, Scotland, 1948-1959; Colonel of the Cameronians, 1951-1954; Justice of the Peace, Ross and Cromarty, 1952; Lord Lieutenant for Ross and Cromarty, 1955-1964; Lord High Commissioner, Church of Scotland General Assembly, 1964; Knight of the Thistle, Jun 1971; died in 1981.
Born in 1884; educated at King's School, Rochester, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Hospital, London; Lt, Royal Army Medical Corps, 1911; served in India and Mesopotamia, 1914-1918; captured at the siege of Kut-el-Amara, 1916; transferred to Regular Army Reserve of Officers, 1920, and appointed Pathologist, Venereal Diseases Department, St Thomas' Hospital, London; recalled to Army, 1939, and served World War Two in France; adviser in venereology to the Army, 1939, and Consultant, 1943-1945, and later Medical Officer in charge of Male Venereal Diseases Department and Marlborough Pathology Laboratory, Royal Free Hospital, London; died in 1985.
Born 1888; educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; commissioned into Corps of Royal Engineers, 1908; Instructor, Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australia, 1914-1915; served in World War One, 1914-1918; service at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, 1915-1918; Brevet Maj, 1919; British Representative, International Commission, Teschen, Czech-Polish frontier, 1919-1920; Instructor in Tactics and Bde Maj, School of Military Engineering, Chatham, Kent, 1923-1926; General Staff Officer 2, War Office, 1927-1930; Brevet Lt Col, 1928; Imperial Defence College; Assistant Adjutant General, War Office, 1934-1935; Brig, General Staff, Eastern Command, 1935-1939; Maj Gen, 1939; Commandant, School of Military Engineering, Chatham, Kent, and Inspector, Corps of Royal Engineers, 1939; Engineer in Chief, BEF (British Expeditionary Force), France, 1939-1940; awarded CB, 1940; General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District, 1940-1941; Corps Commander and acting Lt Gen, 1941; Commander, Salisbury Plain District, 1942; Controller General, Army Provision (EG), 1943-1946; Vice Chairman, Harlow New Town Development Corporation, Essex, 1947-1950; President, Cheltonian Society, 1948-1949; died 1966. Decorations: CB, MC. Publications: Outline history of the Russo-Japanese War [1924]; Elementary tactics (Sifton, Praed and Company, London, 1926); History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volumes VIII and IX (Longmans, London, 1959).
Born in 1896; educated at Loyola College, Montreal and Royal Military College, Canada; served with Royal Engineers in France and Salonika, 1915-1918; Lt, 1916; Capt, 1918; worked with Indian State Railways, 1920-1934; Maj, 1930; served in Egypt and Palestine, 1935-1936, Hong Kong, 1938-1941, Iraq and Persia, 1941-1943, and with British Liberation Army, 1944-1945; Lt Col, 1938; Director of Fortifications and Works, War Office, 1947-1949; retired, 1949; died in 1985.
Born in 1850; Lt, Royal Artillery, 1870; Capt, 1880; Adjutant, Auxiliary Forces, 1881-1889; Maj, 1886; Lt Col, 1896; Col on Staff, South Africa, 1900-1901; Col on Staff, Salisbury Plain District, 1901-1903; Maj Gen 1903; Maj Gen, 1903; Inspector General, Artillery, India, 1903-1906; Lt Gen, 1909; commanded 6 Div, Cork, 1906-1909; retired 1909; re-employed to command 16 (Irish) Div, 1914-1915; replaced as Commanding Officer and retired, 1915; Col Commandant, Royal Artillery, 1917; died in 1923.
Born in 1875; educated at King's College, Cambridge; Attaché, HM Embassy, Paris, then Constantinople and Rome; private secretary to Rt Hon Sir Francis Leveson Bertie (later 1st Viscount Bertie of Thame), HM Ambassador, Paris, 1909-1912; appointed First Secretary of HM Embassy, Petrograd, 1912, HM Embassy, Madrid, 1913, and HM Embassy, Paris, 1916; British Secretary to the Paris Peace Congress, 1919; Assistant Secretary at the Foreign Office, 1919-1920; Counsellor of HM Embassy, Brussels, 1920-1922; Minister Plenipotentiary at Paris, 1922-1928; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Vienna, 1928-1933; attached to British Delegation at Hague Reparations Conferences, 1929 and 1930; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Berlin, 1933-1937, and Paris, 1937-1939; died in 1945.
Born 1907; Rhodes scholar from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), 1929; forester in Colonial Forest Service, Tanganyika, East Africa; returned to UK, 1939; served 22 (EA) Infantry Bde, Abyssinia, 1940-1942, as platoon commander of the 1/6 (Tanganyika) King's African Rifles; Madagascar, 1942-1943; died 1996.
Born in 1885; educated at Marlborough College and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into Northumberland Fusiliers, 1905; served on North West Frontier, India, 1908; Capt, 1914; served in World War One, France and Belgium, 1914-1918; Bde Maj, 103 Infantry Bde, 1915-1916; General Staff Officer Grade 2, 21 Div, 1916-1917; General Staff Officer Grade 2, 2 Australian and New Zealand Corps and 22 Army Corps, 1917; General Staff Officer Grade 1, 37 Div, 1918-1920; Bde Maj, 12 Infantry Bde, 1 Eastern Command and Galway Bde, Irish Command, 1920-1922; Maj, 1924; Lt Col, 1930; Officer Commanding 2 Bn, Wiltshire Regt, 1930-1933; Col, 1933; General Staff Officer Grade 1, 3rd Div, Bulford, 1933-1934; Commander, 7 Infantry Bde, 1934-1938; ADC to the King, 1937-1938; Maj Gen, 1938; Commandant, Sudan Defence Force, 1938-1941; General Officer Commanding-in -Chief, East African Command, 1941-1945; Lt Gen, 1941; Col, Wiltshire Regt, 1942-1954; Gen, 1943; retired pay, 1945; died in 1975.
Born 1902; educated at Charterhouse and Clare College, University of Cambridge; service as Capt, Cupar Section, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, Territorial Army, 1935; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; service with the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, Territorial Army, Belgium and France, 1940; wounded in action, France, 1940; awarded DSO, 1940; transferred to Special Operations Executive (SOE), 1941; General Staff Officer 2, 1943-1944; awarded TD, 1943; Lt Col (Administration and Quartering), Royal Armoured Corps Officer Cadet Training Unit, Royal Military College, Sandhurst, 1944-1945; Chairman, James Prain and Sons Ltd, Dundee, 1945-1956; Member, Jute Working Party, 1946-1948; Member, Scottish Committee, Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation, 1946-1955; Director, Tayside Floorcloth Company Ltd, 1946-1969; Director, Alliance Trust Company Ltd, 1946-1973; Chairman, Jute Importers Association, 1947-1949; Chairman, Dundee District Committee, Scottish Board for Industry, 1948-1962; Director, The Scottish Life Assurance Company Ltd, 1949-1972; Chairman, Association of Jute Spinners and Manufacturers, 1950-1952; part time Member, Scottish Gas Board, 1952-1956; Member, Employers' Panel, Industrial Disputes Tribunal, 1952-1959; Director, Royal Bank of Scotland, 1955-1971; awarded OBE, 1956; Vice Chairman, Caird (Dundee) Ltd, 1956-1964; Deputy Lieutenant, County of Fife, 1958; Member, Employers' Panel, Industrial Court, 1959-1971; Member, Industrial Arbitration Board, 1971-1972; member of Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland and Royal Company of Archers; Honorary President, Fife and Kinross Area Council, Royal British Legion (Scotland); died 1985.
Born in 1917; 2nd Lt, North Lancashire Regt (Loyal Regt), 1937; Lt, 1940; served with 2 Bn, North Lancashire Regt, China and Singapore; commanded newly formed Carrier platoon, Singapore; served with independent company on special mission in Sarawak; POW, 1942-1945, in Keijo (Seoul), Korea and later Japan; commanded Support Company, 2 Bn, North Lancashire Regt, Austria; seconded to 2 Bn, Malay Regt, 1949; died in plane crash, Kelantan, Malaysia, 1950.
Born in Australia in 1910; educated at Lindfield Public School and Sydney High School and Technical College; served in Australian Citizens Force and then as a cadet, Royal Australian Air Force, 1930-1931; transferred to Royal Air Force, 1932; flying duties in UK and Middle East with 33 and 142 Sqns, 1932-1936; armament officer in Far East, 1938-1942; Commander, RAF Tengah, Singapore, Feb 1942; POW, 1943-1945; Gp Capt in command, Central Gunnery School, 1946; RAF Staff College, 1948; Deputy Director, Organisation (Establishment), Middle East; commanded RAF North Luffenham and RAF Oakington (206 Advanced Flying School); Commandant, Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down; Deputy Air Secretary, Air Ministry, 1957-1959; Air Officer Commanding 224 Group, Singapore, 1960; retired, 1962; died in 1994.
Born, 1934; educated, Haileybury College; Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (BA 1957, MA, 1973); National Service, 1952-1954; Rifle Bde, UK and British Army on the Rhine (BAOR), 1958-1962; seconded to King's African Rifles, 1962-1963; Staff College, 1964; Rifle Bde, Far East, 1965; Staff, 7 Armoured Bde, 1966-1968; 3 and 2 Green Jackets, BAOR, 1968-1971; Military Assistant to Chief of General Staff, 1971-1973; commanding officer, 2 Royal Green Jackets, 1974-1976; Staff, 4 Armoured Division, BAOR, 1976-1978; Commander, 39 Infantry Bde, 1978-1980; Royal College of Defence Studies, 1981; Director of Public Relations, British Army, 1982-1984; Commander, 3 Armoured Div, 1984-1987; Commander, UK Field Army and Inspector General, Territorial Army, 1987-1990; Adjutant General, 1990-1993; Aide-de-camp General to the Queen, 1990-1993; HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, 1995-2001.
Born 1914; served with RAF technical branch (engineers); commissioned as Flight Lieutenant, 1947; Squadron Leader, 1954; Wing Commander, 1963; retired, 1969; died 1981.
Born in Ireland, 1879; educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regt), 1899; served in Second Boer War, South Africa, 1899-1902; present at Battles of Colenso, Spion Kop, Pieters Hill and Vaalkrantz, 1899-1900, and the relief of Ladysmith, Feb 1900; Lt, 1900; operations in Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State, 1900-1901; Staff Signals Officer, Mobile Columns, including service with Bethune's Horse, commanded by Col Edward Cecil Bethune, South Africa, 1901; service as Signal Training Officer, Kroonstad, South Africa, Dec 1901-Feb 1902; served with Mohmand Field Force, North West Frontier, India, 1908; resigned from Army, Apr 1914; Reserve of Officers, 1914; rejoined The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regt), Aug 1914; served in World War One, 1914-1918; Company commander, The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regt), Tynemouth, Northumberland, 1914-1915; served on Western Front, 1915; wounded, Hooge, Belgium, Aug 1915; Adjutant, Southern Command Depot, 1915-1919; died 1968.
Born in 1909; educated at Charterhouse School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into Seaforth Highlanders, 1929; joined MI5, [1931]; took part in intelligence activities in both military and political spheres, but later moved into the counter-espionage field; recalled to Seaforth Highlanders and seconded back to MI5, 1939; built up and; controlled double agent network through Section B1A; involved in planning of Operation MINCEMEAT, 1943, which aimed at persuading the Germans that an Allied invasion of Greece was imminent and that Sicily was merely a cover plan for another operation; masterminded Operation FORTITUDE, 1944, which was intended to suggest that the Allied invasion of occupied France was likely to take place in the Pas de Calais rather than Normandy; appointed to direct internal security at Government Communications HQ, [1945]; died in 1994.
Born 1900; Chief Engineer and Director of Carrier Engineering Co Ltd, 1942-1944; died 1977.
served in World War One, 1914-1918; joined the Corps of Royal Engineers, Territorial Army, as Lt, 1937; service with 30 (Surrey) Anti-Aircraft Bn, Royal Engineers, Territorial Army, 1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; attended Staff College courses, Camberley and Minley, 1939-1940; General Staff Officer 3, MI3 (German Section), War Office, 1940; Capt, 1940; General Staff Officer 3 and 2, MI14, War Office, 1940; Maj, 1941; General Staff Officer 1, Head of Intelligence Section (Operations), Offices of War Cabinet, 1942-1944; Lt Col, 1942; General Staff Officer 1, Head of MI17, War Office, 1944; , Headquarters Control Commission, 1944; General Staff Officer 1, Head of Joint Intelligence Co-ordination Section and Chief Staff Officer to Maj Gen (Intelligence), Headquarters Control Commission for Germany, 1944-1945; Col, General Staff, 1945.
Born in 1918; educated at Stockton Grammar School and Constantine Technical College; served with Royal Engineers, 1939-1946; engineer in charge of demolition during the SOE attack on the Asopos Viaduct, Greece, May-Jun 1943; joined Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners, 1946; Resident Engineer, Hydro-Electric Works, Scotland, 1946-1952; Chief Representative, New Zealand, 1952-1955, and Scotland, 1955-1959; Partner, 1959, and Senior Partner, 1977; responsible for design and supervision of construction of various major water resource development projects, maritime works and international airports.
Born in 1902; educated at Royal Naval Colleges, Osborne and Dartmouth; entered Royal Navy, 1916; Midshipman, HMS ROYAL OAK, Black Sea and Dardanelles, 1920; Sub-Lt, HMS VENDETTA and HM Yacht VICTORIA AND ALBERT, 1924; served on various destroyers, Mediterranean and China Stations, 1927-1936; attended Naval Staff College, 1939; commanded HMS WREN, 1939, HMS MASHONA, 1940-1941 and HMS ONSLAUGHT, 1942-1944; Capt. 1943; Chief of Staff, Londonderry, 1944-1945; Capt, 'D' Third Flotilla, in command of HMS SAUMAREZ, Mediterranean, 1946-1947; Deputy Director, Operations Division, Admiralty, 1948-1950; Capt-in-Charge, Simonstown Dockyard, South Africa, 1950-1952; R Adm, 1953; headed British Naval Mission to Greece, 1953-1955; retired, 1956; died in 1994.
Born in 1904; educated at Royal Naval Colleges, Osbourne and Dartmouth; specialised in flying 1927; Cdr, 1938; Capt, 1943; R Adm, 1953; served in World War Two; Chief of Staff to Flag Officer, Naval Air Pacific, 1944-1946; Director Naval Air Warfare Division, Admiralty, 1946-1949; commanded HMS GLORY, 1949-1950; Directing Capt, Senior Officers' War College, 1951; Flag Officer, Malaya, Nov 1953-Apr 1956; retired list, 1956; Naval ADC to the Queen, 1953; died in 1985.
Born, 1916; educated Radley and the Royal Military College Sandhurst; South Wales Borderers in North West Frontier, 1937; served Assam and Burma, 1942, 1945; New Guinea, 1943-1944; command of 4 Bn 6 Gurkha Rifles in India, 1945; Staff College, 1946-1947; on staff of Headquarters Malaya and battalion and brigade commander during the Malayan Emergency,1950-1960; retired from the Army in 1964; civil service in Home Office, 1964-1970; Secretary to successive Speakers of the House of Commons, 1970-1982; Colonel, 6 Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles, 1978-1983; died, 2001.
Born in 1893; served with King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, France and Belgium, 1914-1917; killed in action in 1917.
Born 1886 as Edward Louis Spiers; educated privately; Kildare Militia, 1903; gazetted 8 Hussars, 1906; 11 Hussars, 1910; World War One, 1914-1918; appointed liaison officer between British C-in-C Sir John French, and General Charles Lanrezac of the French 5 Army at the outbreak of War; Head of British Military Mission, Paris, 1917-1920; changed spelling of surname from Spiers to Spears in 1918; Member of Parliament, Loughborough (National Liberal), 1922-1924; Member of Parliament, Carlisle (Conservative), 1931-1945; Maj Gen, 1940; Personal representative for the British Prime Minister with the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, May-Jun 1940; Head of British Mission to General Charles de Gaulle, Jun 1940; Head of Mission to Syria and Lebanon, 1942-1944; a leading figure in the foundation of the Institute of Directors and Chairman of the Council of the Institute until 1965; died 1974.
Publications: Prelude to victory (Cape, 1939), Assignment to catastrophe (William Heinemann: London, 1954), Liaison (William Heinemann, 1930), Lessons of the Russo-Japanese War, translated by E. L. Spiers (Hugh Rees, London, 1906), Two men who saved France (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1966), The picnic basket (Secker & Warburg, London, 1967).
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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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.