GB 0099 KCLMA Caunter - CAUNTER, Brig John Alan Lyde (1889-1981)

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0099 KCLMA Caunter

Title

CAUNTER, Brig John Alan Lyde (1889-1981)

Date(s)

  • Created 1908-[1960] (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

1 box, 1 volume or 0.02 cubic metres

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Born 1889; educated at Uppingham School, Leicestershire, and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into The Gloucestershire Regt, 1909; served in Bombay, India, 1910; Lt, 1911; service with 7 Bn, The King's (Liverpool Regt), Territorial Force, 1913; served with 1 Bn, The Gloucestershire Regt, Bordon, Hampshire, 1914; served in World War One, 1914-1918; service with 1 Bn, The Gloucestershire Regt, 3 Infantry Bde, 1 Div, 1 Corps, British Expeditionary Force (BEF), Belgium and France, 1914; captured by German forces, 1914; POW, 1914-1917; Capt, 1915; awarded MC, 1916; escaped to the Netherlands from Schwarmstedt prison camp, Germany, 1917; service on Western Front, Macedonia and Turkey, 1917-1918; awarded Bar to MC, 1918; General Staff Officer 3, General Headquarters (Operations and Intelligence), British Salonika Force, 1918-1919; Brevet Maj, 1919; General Staff Officer 3, British Salonika Force and British Army of the Black Sea, Russia, 1919-1920; General Staff Officer 3, 6 Div, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, Iraq, 1920-1921; Capt, Royal Tank Corps, 1923; graduated from Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1923; Maj, 1924; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), Germany, 1925-1927; Senior Officers School, Sheerness, Kent, 1927; General Staff Officer 2, Northern Command, 1927-1929; Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, Northern Ireland District, 1930-1933; Brevet Lt Col, 1933; Lt Col, 1935; Commanding Officer, 1 Bn (Light), Royal Tank Corps, Egypt, 1935-1939; Col, 1936; temporary Brig, 1939; commanded 1 Army Tank Bde, 1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; commanded Armoured Bde, Egypt, 1939-1941; commanded 4 Armoured Bde, 7 Armoured Div, Western Desert campaign, 1940-1941; commanded 4 Armoured Bde in capture of Fort Capuzzo, Battle of Beda Fomm, Libya, Feb 1941; awarded CBE, 1941; Brig General Staff and Deputy Director of Staff Duties, Armoured Troops, General Headquarters, India, 1941-1943; retired 1944; member of Looe Urban District Council, Cornwall, 1952-1967; member for Great Britain, International Committee of the International Game Fish Association; died 1981. Publications: 13 days. The chronicle of an escape from a German prison camp (G Bell and Sons, London, 1918); A short guide to shark angling at Looe, and other places in SW England (Published by the author, Looe, Cornwall, 1958); Shark angling in Great Britain (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1961).

Archival history

GB 0099 KCLMA Caunter Created 1908-[1960] Collection (fonds) 1 box, 1 volume or 0.02 cubic metres Caunter , John Alan Lyde , 1889-1981 , Brigadier
Born 1889; educated at Uppingham School, Leicestershire, and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; commissioned into The Gloucestershire Regt, 1909; served in Bombay, India, 1910; Lt, 1911; service with 7 Bn, The King's (Liverpool Regt), Territorial Force, 1913; served with 1 Bn, The Gloucestershire Regt, Bordon, Hampshire, 1914; served in World War One, 1914-1918; service with 1 Bn, The Gloucestershire Regt, 3 Infantry Bde, 1 Div, 1 Corps, British Expeditionary Force (BEF), Belgium and France, 1914; captured by German forces, 1914; POW, 1914-1917; Capt, 1915; awarded MC, 1916; escaped to the Netherlands from Schwarmstedt prison camp, Germany, 1917; service on Western Front, Macedonia and Turkey, 1917-1918; awarded Bar to MC, 1918; General Staff Officer 3, General Headquarters (Operations and Intelligence), British Salonika Force, 1918-1919; Brevet Maj, 1919; General Staff Officer 3, British Salonika Force and British Army of the Black Sea, Russia, 1919-1920; General Staff Officer 3, 6 Div, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, Iraq, 1920-1921; Capt, Royal Tank Corps, 1923; graduated from Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1923; Maj, 1924; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), Germany, 1925-1927; Senior Officers School, Sheerness, Kent, 1927; General Staff Officer 2, Northern Command, 1927-1929; Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, Northern Ireland District, 1930-1933; Brevet Lt Col, 1933; Lt Col, 1935; Commanding Officer, 1 Bn (Light), Royal Tank Corps, Egypt, 1935-1939; Col, 1936; temporary Brig, 1939; commanded 1 Army Tank Bde, 1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; commanded Armoured Bde, Egypt, 1939-1941; commanded 4 Armoured Bde, 7 Armoured Div, Western Desert campaign, 1940-1941; commanded 4 Armoured Bde in capture of Fort Capuzzo, Battle of Beda Fomm, Libya, Feb 1941; awarded CBE, 1941; Brig General Staff and Deputy Director of Staff Duties, Armoured Troops, General Headquarters, India, 1941-1943; retired 1944; member of Looe Urban District Council, Cornwall, 1952-1967; member for Great Britain, International Committee of the International Game Fish Association; died 1981. Publications: 13 days. The chronicle of an escape from a German prison camp (G Bell and Sons, London, 1918); A short guide to shark angling at Looe, and other places in SW England (Published by the author, Looe, Cornwall, 1958); Shark angling in Great Britain (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1961).

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1981.

Papers and photographs relating to Caunter's career, 1908-[1960], including one photograph album, containing 90 photographs, newspaper cuttings and invitations, 1908-1933, notably photographs of Crefeld POW camp, Germany, 1916, Caunter's return to UK following his escape from Schwarmstedt POW camp, Germany, 1917, group photographs of officers, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1922-1923 and Senior Officers Course, Hythe, Kent, 1927, with thirty five loose photographs, 1909-1941, including Salonika, 1918, Iraq, 1920-1921, Egypt, 1936, and Western Desert, Libya, 1941. Papers relating to the First Libyan Campaign, Western Desert, 1940-1941, and Caunter's command of 4 Armoured Bde in the capture of Fort Capuzzo, Battle of Beda Fomm, Libya, Feb 1941, including typescript memorandum by Caunter entitled 'Notes on the disposal of prisoners captured by AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicle) units', 1 Oct 1940; two typescript 7 Armoured Div intelligence summaries, Dec 1940; typescript memorandum by Caunter entitled 'Some lessons from the campaign', [1941]; typescript account entitled 'The story of the 4th Armoured Brigade in the First Libyan campaign', Western Desert, 1940-1941; two letters from Capt Basil Henry Liddell Hart, dated Jan 1947 and Dec 1951, relating to Caunter's deployment of armoured forces in the Battle of Beda Fomm, Western Desert, Feb 1941. Memoranda and reports relating to Caunter's service as Brig General Staff and Deputy Director of Staff Duties, Armoured Troops, General Headquarters, India, 1941-1943, including typescript memorandum by Caunter, 'Defence of the North West Frontier of India and appreciation' [1942]; typescript report by Lt Col Rothwell H Brown, US Army, 'Report of conditions noted in armoured units and ordnance establishments by the US Army Tank Training Detachment', 10 Nov 1942; edition of Tanks and tank folk by Eric Kennington (Country Life, London, 1943).

The collection is arranged in sections as outlined above.

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided forresearch use only. Requests to publish original material should besubmitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for MilitaryArchives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.
English

Summary guide available on-line athttp://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre'sreading room.

The papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart include correspondence with Caunter, 1938-1969 (Ref: LH 1/154), and a typescript copy of a report by Caunter, Deputy Director of Staff Duties, Armoured Troops, India, on the defence of the North West Frontier of India, Jul 1941 (Ref: LH 15/4/107). The papers of Maj Gen Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh include typescript reports by Caunter, relating to operations during the First Libyan campaign, 1940-1941 (Ref: Creagh). The papers of Gen Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor include letter from Caunter relating to the training of the French Motor Bn, Western Desert, 4 Sep 1940 (Ref: O'Connor 4/1/84); letter from O'Connor relating to the supply of weapons, 1 Dec 1940 (Ref: O'Connor 4/2/18).

Decorations: CBE, MC
Nov 1999 Hart , Sir , Basil Henry , Liddell , 1895-1970 , Knight , Captain , military historian x Liddell Hart , Sir , Basil Caunter , John Alan Lyde , 1889-1981 , Brigadier Brown , Rothwell H , fl 1942 , US Lieutenant Colonel War prisoners War victims International relations State security Armed forces Transport Vehicles Motor vehicles Tanks Higher science education Military education Visual materials Photographs International conflicts War Armoured warfare World War Two (1939-1945) Military engineering Warfare Military intelligence Organizations Military organizations Wars (events) World wars (events) World War One (1914-1918) British Army US Army Egypt North Africa Schwarmstedt Germany Western Europe Europe Western Desert Salonika Greece Crefeld India South Asia Iraq Middle East Beda Fomm Cyrenaica Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Libya Military science Social sciences

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1981.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Papers and photographs relating to Caunter's career, 1908-[1960], including one photograph album, containing 90 photographs, newspaper cuttings and invitations, 1908-1933, notably photographs of Crefeld POW camp, Germany, 1916, Caunter's return to UK following his escape from Schwarmstedt POW camp, Germany, 1917, group photographs of officers, Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1922-1923 and Senior Officers Course, Hythe, Kent, 1927, with thirty five loose photographs, 1909-1941, including Salonika, 1918, Iraq, 1920-1921, Egypt, 1936, and Western Desert, Libya, 1941. Papers relating to the First Libyan Campaign, Western Desert, 1940-1941, and Caunter's command of 4 Armoured Bde in the capture of Fort Capuzzo, Battle of Beda Fomm, Libya, Feb 1941, including typescript memorandum by Caunter entitled 'Notes on the disposal of prisoners captured by AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicle) units', 1 Oct 1940; two typescript 7 Armoured Div intelligence summaries, Dec 1940; typescript memorandum by Caunter entitled 'Some lessons from the campaign', [1941]; typescript account entitled 'The story of the 4th Armoured Brigade in the First Libyan campaign', Western Desert, 1940-1941; two letters from Capt Basil Henry Liddell Hart, dated Jan 1947 and Dec 1951, relating to Caunter's deployment of armoured forces in the Battle of Beda Fomm, Western Desert, Feb 1941. Memoranda and reports relating to Caunter's service as Brig General Staff and Deputy Director of Staff Duties, Armoured Troops, General Headquarters, India, 1941-1943, including typescript memorandum by Caunter, 'Defence of the North West Frontier of India and appreciation' [1942]; typescript report by Lt Col Rothwell H Brown, US Army, 'Report of conditions noted in armoured units and ordnance establishments by the US Army Tank Training Detachment', 10 Nov 1942; edition of Tanks and tank folk by Eric Kennington (Country Life, London, 1943).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

The collection is arranged in sections as outlined above.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided forresearch use only. Requests to publish original material should besubmitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for MilitaryArchives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

The papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart include correspondence with Caunter, 1938-1969 (Ref: LH 1/154), and a typescript copy of a report by Caunter, Deputy Director of Staff Duties, Armoured Troops, India, on the defence of the North West Frontier of India, Jul 1941 (Ref: LH 15/4/107). The papers of Maj Gen Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh include typescript reports by Caunter, relating to operations during the First Libyan campaign, 1940-1941 (Ref: Creagh). The papers of Gen Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor include letter from Caunter relating to the training of the French Motor Bn, Western Desert, 4 Sep 1940 (Ref: O'Connor 4/1/84); letter from O'Connor relating to the supply of weapons, 1 Dec 1940 (Ref: O'Connor 4/2/18).

Finding aids

Summary guide available on-line athttp://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre'sreading room.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Decorations: CBE, MC

Notes area

Note

Decorations: CBE, MC

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area