Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Alexander Vass Anderson (17 November 1895 – 17 October 1963) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Military career

Anderson was born in Poona, India, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vass Anderson (1856-1933), of the Indian Medical Service. He attended the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

and commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

on 12 August 1914. Between 1915 and 1918 he served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which he was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. He was promoted to captain on 3 November 1917. In 1921, Anderson was attached to the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners and saw active service in the Malabar rebellion. On 2 June 1923 he was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his services during the conflict. Anderson remained in India, and from 1934 to 1937 was Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for India. Between 1937 and 1939 he was Commanding Officer, Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners. During the

, Anderson returned to the United Kingdom where he was appointed Assistant Quarter-Master General (AQMG), Home Forces in 1940 and Colonel in charge of Administration, Home Forces until 1942. He then worked at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, before serving as Deputy Quarter-Master General (DQMG), British Army Staff in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In January 1945 he was invested as a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

. From August 1944 to April 1947, Anderson was Director of Civil Affairs at the War Office and retired with the rank of major-general in June 1949. He was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

by the United States on 16 January 1947. Anderson married firstly, in 1918, Estelle Bell, daughter of George Henry Gasson, of Queenstown and

East London, South Africa East London ( xh, eMonti; af, Oos-Londen) is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo Rive ...

; the second of their three sons was the director and film critic

Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for h ...

. He married secondly, in 1935, Aileen Elizabeth (1902-1981), daughter of Stanley James Stevenson, of Edinburgh, and widow of Major T. J. Barnes, of the 64th Pioneers. Although Lindsay Anderson's friend

Gavin Lambert Gavin Lambert (23 July 1924 – 17 July 2005) was a British-born screenwriter, novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood. His writing was mainly fiction and nonfiction about the film indust ...

writes, in 'Mainly About Lindsay Anderson: A Memoir' (Faber and Faber, 2000, p. 18), that Alexander Vass Anderson 'cut (his first family) out of his life', making no reference to them in his 'Who's Who' entry, Lindsay often saw his father and looked after his house and dogs when he was away.Lindsay Anderson Revisited: Unknown Aspects of a Film Director, ed. Erik Hedling, Christophe Dupin, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, p. 120 Birth - Stonehaven Journal - Thursday 12 December 1895, p 3

References

Bibliography

External links

British Army Officers 1939–1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Alexander Vass 1895 births 1963 deaths Military personnel from Aberdeenshire British Army major generals British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Members of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Legion of Merit Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Stonehaven Royal Engineers officers War Office personnel in World War II