Showing posts with label British Army General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Army General. Show all posts

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Bio of General Sir Nevil Brownjohn

 
Half length portrait of the Deputy Quartermaster General, Middle East, Major General N. C. D. Brownjohn.

General Sir Nevil Charles Dowell Brownjohn, GBE, KCB, CMG, MC (25 July 1897 - 21 April 1973) was a senior British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1956 until his retirement in 1958.

Brownjohn was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1915. He served in the First World War, where he was awarded the Military Cross. In 1927 he was sent, as a captain, to China to protect the international settlement in Shanghai; he used his skills as a Russian speaker to raise a company of White Russians.

Attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1931 to 1932, he also served in the Second World War, rising to be major general in charge of supplies to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, in 1943. He then became Deputy Chief of Staff at General Eisenhower's Headquarters in 1944 before being appointed Deputy Quartermaster-General in the Middle East later that year.

After the war he took charge of Administration for the British Army of the Rhine and then joined the Control Commission (British Sector) for Germany in 1947. He became Vice Quartermaster General at the War Office in 1949 and Vice Chief of Imperial General Staff in 1950. He was Chief Staff Officer at the Ministry of Defence from 1952 to 1955 when he became Quartermaster-General to the Forces; he retired in 1958.


Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevil_Brownjohn
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=493522628583233&set=gm.1743336992518383

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Bio of Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald Weeks

 
Sir Ronald Weeks (1890-1960), Field Marshal Montgomery's chief representative on the Allied Control Council for Germany during World War Two, England, June 1945.

Lieutenant-General Ronald Morce Weeks, 1st Baron Weeks KCB, CBE, DSO, MC & Bar, TD (13 November 1890 - 19 August 1960) was a British Army general during the Second World War.

Weeks was commissioned into the South Lancashire Regiment of the Territorial Army in 1913. He served in the Rifle Brigade during the First World War and then retired from military service in 1919.

He was re-employed during the Second World War, initially as Chief of Staff for the Territorial Division and then as a brigadier on the General Staff of Home Forces in 1940. He was promoted to acting major-general on 17 March 1941 and was appointed Director General of Army Equipment in 1941 and Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1942. He then became Deputy Military Governor and Chief of Staff of the British Zone for the Allied Control Council in Germany in 1945; in that capacity he was involved in negotiations to avoid the Berlin Blockade. He retired from the British Army later that year.

He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917, and a Bar to the Military Cross in 1918. He was appointed to the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1918, made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1939 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1943.

After the war, Weeks became Chairman of Vickers. In 1956 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Weeks, of Ryton in the County Palatine of Durham.


Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Weeks,_1st_Baron_Weeks
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1738151199703629/?__cft__[0]=AZXOs5QiuqIDFwxiCtHwoaZwxjbhs_6hLBS8PnILydOOg6STULIaG3M3L8RPXX6bjgK5-O6xoWmB_ClsSBINYM8ph4Hcdj_DAJ1t0Ivz78RMYcNrVfM2FO-wKArsfS6Nw5sMKNBzoHctNIVP6ezkoM41&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Bio of Lieutenant-General Sir Wilfrid Lindsell

 
Lieutenant General Sir Wilfrid Gordon Lindsell (1884-1973) in a posed portrait at his desk, England, October 1945.

Sir Wilfrid Gordon Lindsell, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC (born September 29, 1884 in Portsmouth; † May 2, 1973) was a British Lieutenant General in the British Army, who was last among other things Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery between 1945 and 1950.

He was promoted to major-general in command of Administration for Southern Command, 1938-1939 and was appointed the quartermaster-general on mobilisation of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium, 1939-1940, until the evacuation from Dunkirk. After Dunkirk he became quartermaster-general of Home Forces and set about re-building the army from Kneller Hall in Twickenham. After a year he became senior military advisor to the Ministry of Supply under Sir Andrew Duncan and Lord Beaverbrook. In less than a year the army had thirteen fully equipped and trained divisions to repel a German invasion. In 1942 he became one of General Montgomery's team to revitalise the Eighth Army as lieutenant-general in charge of administration in GHQ Middle East. In a broadcast concerning the capture of Tripoli the British Secretary for War, Sir P.J. Grigg, said that much of the credit for the Eighth Army's phenomenal advance was due to the quartermaster-general's staff under Lt General Sir Wilfrid Lindsell. During the Second World War he was mentioned in dispatches on three more occasions.

At the end of 1943 he moved east to become principal administrative officer in GHQ India prepared General Slim's Fourteenth Army to attack the Japanese in Burma. Here he played the most significant role in mobilising Indian resources, establishing production capabilities and building the foundations for the Indian defence industry. After returning from India he was attached to the Board of Trade to co-ordinate the clearing of factories for peacetime production.

He retired from the army in December 1945. He was awarded the Legion of Merit honour by the American government with Degree of Commander on 17 October 1946.

He became governor and commandant of the Church Lads' Brigade (1948-1954) and was a Church Commissioner (1948-1959). From 1946 to 1955 he was chairman of the board of Ely Breweries. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Aberdeen University.

He married Marjorie Ellis (died 1957) (OBE 1946). They had two daughters and a son who died in infancy. In 1958 he married Evelyn Nairn (died 1982). He died in London on 2 May 1973.



Source :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1738720009646748/?__cft__[0]=AZUQQ80fw82m5Uofxhcu0iwNo0txZS_lZu8g2lnTxPIBl63nV4bsl0icsVv0iSJ9ClX2-EgMJpfrQCTJEAo0GyX2Ey5IrFeHb88w8r03WTrwWn-JY1TJ2FidySjpNYxLeEEd_1ZIPwkPr3IinVPC2FM4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Bio of General Hastings Ismay

 
Portrait of General Hastings Ismay (1887-1965), Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, pictured wearing military uniform in London in December 1944.

General Hastings Lionel "Pug" Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay KG, GCB, CH, DSO, PC, DL (21 June 1887 - 17 December 1965), was a British Indian Army officer and diplomat, remembered primarily for his role as Winston Churchill's chief military assistant during the Second World War and his service as the first Secretary General of NATO from 1952 to 1957.

Ismay was born in Nainital, India, in 1887, and educated in the United Kingdom at the Charterhouse School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After Sandhurst, he joined the Indian Army as an officer of the 21st Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry. During the First World War, he served with the Camel Corps in British Somaliland, where he joined in the British fight against the "Mad Mullah", Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. In 1925, Ismay became an Assistant Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID). After being promoted to the rank of colonel, he served as the military secretary for Lord Willingdon, the Viceroy of India, then returned to the CID as Deputy Secretary in 1936.

On 1 August 1938, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Ismay became the Committee's Secretary and began planning for the impending war. In May 1940, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he selected Ismay as his chief military assistant and staff officer. In that capacity, Ismay served as the principal link between Churchill and the Chiefs of Staff Committee. Ismay also accompanied Churchill to many of the Allied war conferences. For Ismay's advice and aid, "Churchill owed more, and admitted that he owed more" to him "than to anybody else, military or civilian, in the whole of the war."

After the end of the war, Ismay remained in the army for another year, and helped to reorganise the Ministry of Defence. He then retired from the military and served as Lord Mountbatten of Burma's Chief of Staff in India, helping to oversee its partition. From 1948 to 1951, he served as chairman of the council of the Festival of Britain, helping to organise and promote the event. Then, in 1951, when Churchill again became Prime Minister, he appointed Ismay Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations. Ismay accepted the position, but resigned after only six months to become the first Secretary General of NATO in 1952. He served in this role until 1957, and helped establish and define the position. After retiring from NATO, Ismay wrote his memoirs, The Memoirs of General Lord Ismay, served on a variety of corporate boards, and co-chaired the Ismay–Jacob Committee, which reorganised the Ministry of Defence once again. He died on 17 December 1965, at his home, Wormington Grange, Gloucestershire.

 



 

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Ismay,_1st_Baron_Ismay?fbclid=IwAR3W4tue7f6HkE4cl6a8857dhtzo-5sG1o4-lIksRHiUONOQrpwBSYZpggA
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1738725519646197/?__cft__[0]=AZX0b2oyF5TiyPRGJPwkMt-iTmmo2EMvBJV1MIG1LaXEsBZNNZ2sfvIhl0BrJD1nxXwsNZWpOMVMT6NU8Uvf3eFGQgpzBF3FYUuLG9TE8CdP99LyGk9r7_K_KtKHXinmd6WbwGttYQk-iZ4EbCzif9Oo&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Eisenhower and Montgomery Reviewing Tank Exercise

 
From left to right: Supreme Allied Commander American General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969), his deputy, British Chief Air Marshal Arthur Tedder (1890 - 1967), and the principal commander of Allied ground forces in Europe, British General Bernard L. Montgomery (1887 - 1976), stand in a US armored vehicle as they review a tank exercise, Salisbury, England, 1944. Photo by Frank Scherschel.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10220093889237635&set=gm.1692073677644715

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Bio of General Sir Neil Ritchie

 
British Army officer General Sir Neil Ritchie (1897-1983), General Officer Commanding Scottish Command and Governor of Edinburgh Castle in his office in Edinburgh, Scotland on 8th January 1946.

General Sir Neil Methuen Ritchie, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC, KStJ (29 July 1897 – 11 December 1983) was a British Army officer who saw service during both the world wars. He is most notable during the Second World War for commanding the British Eighth Army in the North African Campaign from November 1941 until being dismissed in June 1942. Despite this, his career did not end. Richie later commanded XII Corps throughout the campaign in Northwest Europe, from June 1944 until Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) in May 1945.

Ritchie rise through the ranks coincided with the earliest phases of the war when British fortunes were at their lowest ebb. The Eighth Army, fighting in the North African Campaign, was the only British land force engaging the German Army anywhere in the world. After some early successes against the Italians the British were pushed back following the arrival of the Afrikakorps under Erwin Rommel. Ritchie was originally intended as a temporary appointment until a suitable commander could be found, but in fact ended up commanding the Eighth Army for nearly seven months. He was in command of the Eighth Army at the Battle of Gazala in May–June 1942 where he failed to exercise strong command over the Army and the British and Commonwealth forces were heavily defeated, losing the port of Tobruk. He was sacked by Auchinleck on 25 June prior to the First Battle of El Alamein.

The historian Richard Mead has kind words for Ritchie:

"Notwithstanding this shattering blow to his reputation, he managed to pick himself up, to play to his strengths and, by the end of the War, to re-establish himself, if not as a great general, then at least as a highly competent one."



Source :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1682156208636462/?__cft__[0]=AZWz_dceQGxhtnOZ5Nu_ej8J-opzLcII7VHOosBYQz4jlbFHRDvld6TJh_TCvTVMKMALP_Ti8fgZhKH9AwnFAci8-2pNobgWbTleoF_3QOH-K6xusW5L-8MIox1_Zk3AY36-ues74IbW4gvrBrO-hG5J&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Bio of Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Nye

 

 
British Army officer General Sir Archibald Nye (1895-1967), recently appointed Governor of Madras, posed in uniform at his house in Kensington, London on 24th January 1946.

Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Edward Nye GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, KCB, KBE, MC (23 April 1895 – 13 November 1967) was a senior British Army officer who served in both world wars. In the latter he served as Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff (VCIGS).

On 20 May 1939, Nye was promoted to colonel, with the temporary rank of brigadier, and sent to India to raise a brigade, commanding the Nowshera Brigade from May 1939 to January 1940. In February 1940 he returned to London to take up the post of Deputy Director of Staff Duties, War Office and became Director of Staff Duties with the acting rank of major-general from 1 November. Promoted to substantive major-general on 18 November 1941, in December he became Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff with the acting rank of lieutenant-general from 5 December. His most important function in this role was to represent the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Alan Brooke, when he was unable to attend one of the many committees on which he sat such as the Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Defence Committee (Operations), the War Cabinet and the Army Council. The enormous burdens placed on Brooke meant that he needed to delegate many of his tasks and for this he relied heavily on Nye. The partnership was highly successful and Nye remained in the job for the rest of the war. It could be said that while Brooke ran the war, Nye ran the army. Advanced to the temporary rank of lieutenant-general on 5 December 1942, in the 1944 Birthday Honours Nye was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, the first of five knighthoods he would ultimately be conferred with. He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general on 14 September 1944. Nye retired on 29 March 1946.


Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Nye
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=444232173512279&set=gm.1682157755302974

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Casablanca Conference (1943)



The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill. Also attending were the sovereign of Morocco Sultan Muhammad V and representing the Free French forces Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, but they played minor roles and were not part of the military planning. USSR General Secretary Joseph Stalin had declined to attend, citing the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad as requiring his presence in the Soviet Union.

The conference's agenda addressed the specifics of tactical procedure, allocation of resources, and the broader issues of diplomatic policy. The debate and negotiations produced what was known as the Casablanca Declaration, and perhaps its most historically provocative statement of purpose, "unconditional surrender". That doctrine came to represent the unified voice of implacable Allied will and the determination that the Axis powers would be fought to their ultimate defeat.

The work of the conference was primarily military—deciding on the invasion of Sicily (after completion of the North African campaign) rather than an immediate invasion of western Europe, apportioning forces for the Pacific theatre and outlining major lines of attack in the Far East, and agreeing on the concentrated bombing of Germany. Roosevelt and Churchill also found time to discuss nuclear bomb research, to consider competing claims between Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle for the leadership of the French war effort against the Axis powers, and, most important of all, to demand an “unconditional surrender” from Germany, Italy, and Japan.


American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) at the Casablanca Conference in Morocco, 16 January 1943. Roosevelt, with advice from General George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, lobbied for a cross-Channel invasion of Europe. Churchill, with advice from the British Chiefs of Staff, led by General Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS, the professional head of the British Army), felt the time was not opportune, and favored an Allied assault on the island of Sicily followed by an invasion of mainland Italy. The British argument centred on the need to pull German reserves down into Italy where, due to the relatively poor north-south lines of communication, they could not be easily extracted to defend against a later invasion of northwest Europe. Additionally, by delaying the cross-Channel landing, it would mean that any invasion would be against a German army further weakened by many more months fighting on the Eastern Front against the Red Army. Throughout the conference, Roosevelt's attention was prominently focused on the Pacific War front and he faulted the British for what he felt was not a full commitment against Japanese entrenchment. The Italian strategy was agreed upon, a compromise between the two leaders, Roosevelt acceding to Churchill's approach for Europe. Churchill, in turn, pledged more troops and resources to the Pacific and Burma to reinforce positions held by Chiang Kai-shek against the Japanese. The United States would provide assistance to the British in the Pacific by supplying escorts and landing craft.


American military commander Brigadier General William Hale Wilbur (1888 - 1979) (second right) kneels to receive the Medal of Honor from American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) (seated, second left) outside the Anfa Hotel, Casablanca, Morrocco, January 22, 1943. Roosevelt is assisted by Major General George S. Patton (1885 - 1945) (right) while US Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall (1880 - 1959) (left) watches. The men where in Morrocco for the Casablanca Conference where they planned Allied strategy for the European campaign in World War II.
 1943-Casablanca, Morocco: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill (seated) pose with their staffs after historic allied conference at Casablanca. Standing (L to R) are: Lt. Gen. H.H. Arnold, Adm. Ernest J. King, Gen. George C. Marshall, Sir Dudley Pound, Sir Charles Portal, Sir Alan Francis Brooke, Sir John Dill, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and Brehon H. Somervell. Others are unidentified

American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) (seated left) and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) (seated right) review documents at the Casablanca Conference where they planned Allied strategy for the European campaign in World War II, Casablanca, Morrocco, January 17, 1943. Among those behind them are, from left, Chief of the US Army Forces Lieutenant General Henry 'Hap' Arnold (1885 - 1950), Commander-in-Chief of the US Navy Admiral Ernest J. King (1878 - 1956), US Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall (1880 - 1959), Chief of British Naval Staff Admiral Sir Dudley Pound (1877 -1943), Chief of the Imperial General Staff General Sir Alan Brooke (1883 - 1963), and Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles Portal (1893 - 1971)


President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill talk on the lawn of the President's villa during the Casablanca conference, 17 January 1943. The conference produced a unified statement of purpose, the Casablanca Declaration. It announced to the world that the Allies would accept nothing less than the "unconditional surrender" of the Axis powers. Roosevelt had borrowed the term from US Army General Ulysses S. Grant (known as "Unconditional Surrender" Grant), who had communicated that stance to the Confederate States Army commander during the American Civil War. So Roosevelt stated at the concluding press conference on 24 January that the Allies were demanding "unconditional surrender" from the Germans, the Italians and the Japanese.


Military journalists at a press conference listen to President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during a press conference at the Casablanca Conference, January 1943. Roosevelt and Churchill excluded the press from the conference—partly for safety reasons and partly to allow them to work without scrutiny of their every move. But, toward the end of the conference, Allied Forces Headquarters invited a group of approximately 50 journalists to Casablanca, promising them a history-making event. With space short in Anfa, the journalists received lodgings at the Excelsior, an upscale hotel on Casablanca’s main thoroughfare across from the entrance to the old medina. They were instructed not to talk about their assignment in front of hotel employees or others in Casablanca. They were also told to behave as if their rooms were bugged. The Excelsior’s bar had been a favorite hangout for the German Armistice Commission, and the current extent of Nazi infiltration of the hotel staff remained unclear. To help with security, the U.S. Army temporarily took over the hotel’s switchboard and kitchen.


General Charles de Gaulle of Free French Forces at Casablanca Conference, 17 January 1943. He had to be forced to attend, and he met a chilly reception from Roosevelt and Churchill. No French representatives were allowed to attend the military planning sessions. Elliott Roosevelt’s book, 'As He Saw It' (1946) describes how Franklin Roosevelt wanted the French provisional government to be set up with Giraud and de Gaulle, who would be “equally responsible for its composition and welfare.” That is because Franklin Roosevelt saw de Gaulle as Churchill’s puppet and thought that Giraud would be more compliant with US interests. Complications arose because most people in the French Resistance considered de Gaulle the undisputed leader of the Resistance and so Giraud was progressively dispossessed of his political and military roles. Roosevelt eventually recognized de Gaulle as the head of the Free French in mid-1944.


 Roosevelt's Delegation At Casablanca. Seated in the center, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) discusses the British problem with a group of Casablanca Conference attendees, Morocco, 1943. Left to right, front row: General Goerge C. Marshall (1880 - 1959), Chief of Staff, President Roosevelt, Admiral E.J. King (1878 - 1956), Commander in Chief of the US Navy. Left to right, back row: Lieutenant General Harry Hopkins (1890 - 1946), Lieutenant General HH Arnold (1886 - 1950), Commander of US Army Air Forces, Lieutenant General Brehon Somervell (1892 - 1955), and Averell Harriman (1891 - 1986). Roosevelt presented the results of the conference to the American people in a radio address on February 12, 1943. During the return trip to the United States, President Roosevelt met with the President of Brazil, Getúlio Vargas, at the Potenji River Conference, where they discussed Brazil's participation in the war effort and defined the agreements that led to the creation of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force. The conference took place aboard the USS Humboldt in the Potenji River harbor in Natal, on January 28 and 29, 1943.


 View of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's delegation at the Casablanca Conference, January, 1943, Casablance, Morocco.




Allied leaders (from left) French General Henri Giraud, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, French General Charles de Gaulle, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the lawn of President Roosevelt's villa during the Casablanca conference, 24 January 1943. The conference called for the official recognition of a joint leadership of the Free French forces by de Gaulle and Henri Giraud. There was notable tension between the two men, who limited their interactions to formalities like pledging their mutual support. Roosevelt encouraged them to shake hands for the photographers eager for a photo opportunity, but the ritual handshake was with reluctance and done so quickly that they reportedly had to pose for a second shot! Roosevelt would later describe this meeting between the French leaders as a "shotgun wedding".



Source :
https://www.britannica.com/place/Casablanca-Morocco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_Conference
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/casablanca-conference-1943?family=editorial&phrase=casablanca%20conference%201943&sort=best

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Montgomery Reading at Home

British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887-1976), seated studying maps in his wartime caravan located at his home, Isington Mill near Alton in Hampshire, England, September 1949. On the wall of the caravan hang portraits of defeated World War II Axis generals, from left, Erwin Rommel, Walter Model and Albert Kesselring. Field Marshal Montgomery is currently Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).

Source :
Courtesy of Tobi Moll at https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=319242269344604&set=gm.1529827873869297

Sunday, May 5, 2019

General John Crocker in France 1944

Lieutenant General John Crocker, Commander of 1st Corps, in France, August 1944. Sir John Tredinnick Crocker, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC (4 January 1896 - 9 March 1963) was not much of a talker and he was a lousy self-promoter because of it. Yet he was one of the most important British soldiers of the Second World War, commanding a corps in North Africa and subsequently being assigned “the most ambitious, the most difficult and the most important task” of any Allied corps commander during Operation Overlord. His influence was not limited to the period of the war either. He was intimately involved with the development of British armoured forces during the 1920s and 1930s, and after the war he oversaw the production of the doctrine and training publications that would guide the British Army for much of the Cold War. He also served as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Land Forces, and he finished his career as Adjutant-General to the Forces. Field Marshal Montgomery would have preferred it if Crocker had retired as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), but in 1949 Prime Minister Clement Atlee chose Sir William Slim for the post instead. By almost any standard, Crocker had a very successful army career. So, how did someone so quiet achieve so much? Crocker’s influence, and his rise in the British Army, rested squarely on a foundation of technical competence and unimpeachable integrity. These were also the qualities that underpinned his method of command. A keenly intelligent man, Crocker found himself in high demand whenever there were problems to be solved, whether they concerned testing the abilities of tanks, building an armoured formation, or sequencing an amphibious assault. He had excelled at staff college and at just about everything else he had tackled during the interwar period, so it is no wonder that he attracted the attention of people like Alan Brooke and Percy Hobart. They trusted him, and not just for his technical ability. His Great War record had shown him to be completely composed under fire, and his reputation for being straight with everyone, whether they wanted to hear what he had to say or not, had earned him the nickname “Honest John.” In 1935, Hobart wrote that Crocker was “trusted by me and by all ranks of the Tank Brigade ... his patience, tact and integrity have won him affection.” There was also an understated determination about Crocker. During tough times like the battles for Caen, he could grit his teeth and drive on to his objectives, even when the fighting was tough and the casualty count high. That steely resolve faded for a while when he suffered the agonizing loss of his only son, Wilfrid, in October 1944, but his skills and his quiet nobility never left him.


Source :
"Corps Commanders: Five British and Canadian Generals at War, 1939-45" by Douglas E. Delaney 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Crocker

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Maneuvers of British Armored Division

Malton in Yorkshire, 29 September 1942. Maneuvers of the 42nd Armored Division. On the right is General Sir Bernard Paget (Commander of the Territorial Forces), who takes the top of the two pieces with his greenish color and brown pants of the Battledress. On the left is Sir Anthony Eden (Minister of Foreign Affairs), who takes the complete set of two pieces and has inserted the underside of the jacket inside the pants. British soldiers usually wear the two piece suit of work (Two piece denim overalls), as it serves as an instruction suit work, a combat uniform in summer, or can be worn over the Battledress in winter. The colors vary from a very light brown to a whitish greenish hue. The Denim Tank Suit itself is a whole plethora of color that varies from green to yellowish-green. This suit began to deliver from 1944 onwards, so what the officer wear in this picture is the two pieces, except the one on the right that carries the Battledress jacket. Denim Overalls is defined by Jean Bouchery in the book "The British Soldier" volume one.


Source :
http://www.panzernet.com/foro4/showthread.php?11073-Uniformes-mezclados/page3

Monday, August 10, 2015

Allied Leaders in Yalta Conference

Group portrait of Allied leaders photographed in the courtyard of the Livadia Palace, Yalta, in the first day of Yalta Conference (4-11 February 1945) with (seated from left to right): British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Also present are (from left to right): Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov; Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham, RN, Marshal of the RAF Sir Charles Portal, RAF, (standing behind Churchill); Fleet Admiral Ernest King (standing behind Brooke), General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army (blocked by Leahy), Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, USN, (standing behind Roosevelt), Major General Laurence S. Kuter, General Aleksei Antonov, and Admiral of the Fleet Nikolay Kuznetsov. They're met for the purpose of discussing Europe's post-war reorganization. The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea. The meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. Within a few years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, Yalta became a subject of intense controversy. To some extent, it has remained controversial.


Sources :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference
http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/yalta-conference?phrase=yalta%20conference&sort=best&excludenudity=true
http://www.net-film.ru/en/film-22029/

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Major General Sir Robert Edward Laycock, KCMG, CB, DSO, KStJ (18 April 1907 – 10 March 1968)

Major General R Laycock DSO, Chief of Combined Operations, England, pictured in 1943. He was most famous for his service with the Commandos during the Second World War. In 1927, he was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards. He served in World War II as a lieutenant-colonel with the commandos in North Africa, Crete, Sicily and Italy before being promoted to major-general and becoming Chief of Combined Operations in 1943. He held that position until 1947


Source:
http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//20/media-20419/large.jpg

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Bernard Montgomery decorates Konstantin Rokossovsky

British Field Marshal Sir Bernard "Monty" Montgomery (17 November 1887 - 24 March 1976) decorates Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky (21 December 1896 - 3 August 1968) with a Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) at the Hindenburg Platz near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 12 July 1945, while other Soviet generals waiting for their turn

Source:
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189188

Bernard Montgomery decorates Georgy Zhukov sash order of the bath

British Field Marshal Sir Bernard "Monty" Montgomery (17 November 1887 - 24 March 1976) decorates The Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief of the Red Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (1 December 1896 - 18 June 1974) with the sash of the Knight Grand Cross of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) at the Hindenburg Platz near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 12 July 1945, while other Soviet generals waiting for their turn

Source:
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189188

Award Ceremony For Russian Generals by Montgomery at Brandenburg Gate

 British Field Marshal Sir Bernard "Monty" Montgomery (17 November 1887 - 24 March 1976) decorates Soviet generals at the Hindenburg Platz near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, 12 July 1945. The Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief of the Red Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (1 December 1896 - 18 June 1974), the Commander of the British 21st Army Group, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky (21 December 1896 - 3 August 1968) and General of the Army Vasily Sokolovsky (21 July 1897 - 10 May 1968) of the Red Army leave the Brandenburg Gate after the ceremony. Zhukov (Commander of 1st Belorussian Front), on Montgomerys left, was presented with the sash of the Knight Grand Cross of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (G.C.B.), while Rokossovsky (Commander of 2nd Belorussian Front), on Montgomery right, was made a Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.). Sokolovsky (Deputy Commander of 1st Belorussian Front), in the background between Montgomery and Rokossovsky was made a Knight Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.). The same was Colonel General Mikhail Malinin (28 December 1893 - 24 January 1960) who is standing just behind Rokossovsky. As citizens of the UK or the Commenwealth, the four generals would have been entitled to wear the title "Sir" in front of their names. So they only had the right to put the K.B.E., etc. after their name, as the Austrian pianist Alfred Brendl. The British King's Company of the Grenadier Guards formed the guard of honor and tanks of the King's 8th Royal Irish Hussars were drawn up on either side. The ceremony was held in front of a banner proclaiming "Glory to the Soviet forces who planted the flag of victory over Berlin." Note the British officer on the far right having a hearty laugh!

Source:
 http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189188