General Sir Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen, (17 April 1889 – 20 March 1963) was a
British Army officer who served during the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and the
Second World Wars.
Early life and military career
The second son of Lieutenant Colonel A. G. Godwin-Austen, late the
24th and
89th (The Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot
The 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised on 3 December 1793. Under the Childers Reforms the regiment amalgamated with the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victor ...
, Reade Godwin-Austen was born in
Frensham,
Farnham
Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...
in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, on 17 April 1889. He was educated at
St Lawrence College, Ramsgate, and later at the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst, to pursue a military career, following both his father and great-grandfather.
Godwin-Austen was a great-grandson of Major General
Sir Henry Godwin, who commanded the British and Indian forces in the
Second Anglo-Burmese War. His uncle was
Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen, who gave his name to the second highest mountain in the
Karakoram
The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...
range; this mountain is now better known as
K2.
Upon passing out from Sandhurst, Godwin-Austen was
commissioned as a
second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
into the
South Wales Borderers in 1909. During his service in the
First World War, he was awarded the
Military Cross and twice
mentioned in despatches
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 ...
while serving as a
staff officer with the
13th (Western) Division
The 13th (Western) Division was one of the Kitchener's Army divisions in the First World War, raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener. It fought at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia (including the capture of Baghdad) and Persia.
War service 1914– ...
, a
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob,
was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...
formation, on Gallipoli, in Palestine and in Mesopotamia.
[Smart, p. 120]
Between the wars
Godwin-Austen attended the
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...
, as a student from 1924 to 1925, alongside fellow students such as
Ivor Thomas,
Noel Beresford-Peirse
Lieutenant-General Sir Noel Monson de la Poer Beresford-Peirse KBE, CB, DSO (22 December 1887 – 14 January 1953) was a British Army officer.
Family background
Beresford-Peirse was the son of Colonel William John de la Poer Beresford-Pe ...
,
Vyvyan Pope,
Douglas Graham,
Michael O'Moore Creagh
Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh, (16 May 1892 – 14 December 1970) was a British Army officer who served in both the world wars. He commanded the 7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom), 7th Armoured Div ...
,
Daril Watson,
Archibald Nye
Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye, (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).
After the Second W ...
,
Humfrey Gale
Lieutenant General Sir Humfrey Myddelton Gale, (4 October 1890 – 8 April 1971) was an officer in the British Army who served in the First and Second World War, during which he was Chief Administrative Officer at Allied Forces Headquarters ...
and
Noel Irwin
Lieutenant General Noel Mackintosh Stuart Irwin & Two Bars, MC (24 December 1892 – 21 December 1972) was a senior British Army officer, who played a prominent role in the British Army after the Dunkirk evacuation, and in the Burma campaign ...
, all of whom rose to high command in the next war.
He served in numerous staff positions at the
War Office until receiving a position as an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Due to a lack of promotion in his own regiment, Godwin-Austen transferred to the
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and commanded the 2nd Battalion from 1936 to 1937, before being employed with the British Military Mission to the
Egyptian Army from 1937 to 1938. His next appointment, during the
Arab revolt in Palestine, was in successive command of the
13th
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...
and
14th Infantry Brigades, the latter post being held until August 1939, shortly before the Second World War began.
While in Palestine, Godwin-Austen gained a reputation for being very sympathetic towards and supportive of the Zionist movement. In the conflict between Jewish and Arab residents, he believed the Arabs were "clearly the aggressors" and the Jewish residents of the territory needed to be protected. Godwin-Austen advocated that the British army provide said protection.
Second World War
On the outbreak of war in September 1939, Godwin-Austen, mentioned in despatches for his services in Palestine, had just been promoted to the acting rank of
major general to become
General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the
8th Infantry Division.
Bernard Montgomery
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and t ...
had relinquished command and returned to England to command the
3rd Infantry Division. The understrength division was responsible for internal security in the
British Mandate of Palestine. After the division was disbanded in February 1940, Godwin-Austen was nominated in July to command the
2nd (African) Division
The 2nd (African) Division was a British Empire colonial unit that fought during the Second World War. On 19 July 1940, the 2nd (African) Division was formed in Kenya, British East Africa. On 24 November of that year, the division was redesignat ...
, which was forming in
Kenya.
[Mead, p.168] He was again mentioned in despatches in July 1940.
In mid-August, before taking up his command, Godwin-Austen was sent to
British Somaliland
British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British Empire, British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Soma ...
to take over the British forces during the
Italian conquest of British Somaliland. His withdrawal at the decisive
Battle of Tug Argan
The Battle of Tug Argan was fought between forces of the British Empire and Italy from 11 to 15 August 1940 in British Somaliland (later the independent and renamed Somalia). The battle determined the result of the Italian conquest of British ...
was fatal to his attempt to defend the territory but it allowed almost the entire
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
contingent to withdraw to
Berbera and evacuate by sea to
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
. Commonwealth losses in the short campaign are estimated to have been exceedingly light, about 260 (38 killed, 102 wounded and 120 missing).
Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, stung by the loss to British prestige, criticised General
Sir Archibald Wavell,
Commander-in-Chief of
Middle East Command
Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...
, concerning the loss of British Somaliland, which was a Middle East Command responsibility. Because of the few casualties, Churchill fretted that the British had abandoned the colony without enough of a fight. He demanded the suspension of Godwin-Austen and the convening of a court of inquiry.
Wavell claimed that the defence of Somaliland was a textbook withdrawal in the face of superior numbers. He pointed out to Churchill that "A bloody butcher's bill is not the sign of a good tactician". According to Churchill's staff, Wavell's retort moved Churchill to greater fury than they had ever seen. Wavell refused to accede to Churchill's demand and Godwin-Austen moved on to take command of his division in Kenya on 12 September. Churchill was to retain his grudge towards him.
[Mead, p.169]
During the East African Campaign, Godwin-Austen led the 2nd (African) Division (renamed 12th (African) Division) as part of East Africa Force, commanded by Lieutenant General
Alan Cunningham
General (United Kingdom), General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, (1 May 1887 – 30 January 1983) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign (World War ...
, in its advance from Kenya into
Italian East Africa. His division invaded
Italian Somaliland on 11 February and by late February had scored an emphatic victory over Italian forces at
Gelib. Once
Mogadishu had been taken, Cunningham swung his force inland across the
Ogaden
Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...
desert and into
Ethiopia, entering the capital,
Addis Ababa, on 6 April.
At the end of the campaign, Godwin-Austen was promoted to his last fighting command, leading the
Western Desert Force (which became
XIII Corps) in the
Western Desert campaign in
North Africa. During
Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...
, he was vociferous in his opposition to the suggestion of Alan Cunningham, by now commanding
Eighth Army, and so once more his direct superior, that they should abandon the offensive after the setback of Rommel's "dash to the wire". The Commander-in-Chief Middle East, now General
Claude Auchinleck, chose to continue the offensive; Crusader went on to relieve the
Siege of Tobruk
The siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. ...
and push the Axis forces back to
El Agheila and Cunningham was relieved of his command.
When Rommel counter-attacked in January 1942, the Allies were forced to retreat in some confusion. Godwin-Austen, seeing that one of his divisions, the
4th Indian Infantry Division
The 4th Indian Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World War, i ...
, was under threat, after consulting with Cunningham's successor, Lieutenant General
Neil Ritchie, ordered them to withdraw. Ritchie changed his mind and issued a countermand directly to Major General
Francis Tuker
Lieutenant General Sir Francis Ivan Simms Tuker KCIE CB DSO OBE (4 July 1894 – 7 October 1967) was a senior British Indian Army officer who commanded the 4th Indian Infantry Division during the Second World War.
Early life
The son of Willi ...
, the divisional commander. Feeling that Ritchie had by this action displayed a lack of confidence in him, Godwin-Austen tendered his resignation to Auchinleck, which was reluctantly accepted.
[Mead, p. 171] Tuker was later to write: "His going was the latest of many misjudegments which had started to shake confidence in the leadership. We lost the wrong man."
In spite of support from General
Sir Alan Brooke,
Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and
Sir James Grigg, the
Secretary of State for War
The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...
, Churchill was adamant that Godwin-Austen should not receive a new posting. Churchill relented in November after the intervention of South African Field Marshal
Jan Smuts and Godwin-Austen was appointed Director of Tactical Investigation at the War Office. He subsequently became Vice Quartermaster-General at the War Office and as the war ended, the Quartermaster-General and then Principal Administrative Officer in India, reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Claude Auchinleck.
Postwar
Godwin-Austen was knighted in 1946 and retired from the army on 5 March 1947, after having achieved the rank of general.
Serving as Chairman of the South-West Division of the National Coal Board, from 1946 to 1947, he was also Colonel of the South Wales Borderers from 1950 to 1954. Godwin-Austen, a bachelor, after suffering from a long illness, died in
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...
on 20 March 1963, just under a month from his 74th birthday.
[Smart, p. 121]
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
*
* "GODWIN-AUSTEN, General Sir Alfred Reade", in
British Army Officers 1939–1945
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin-Austen, Alfred Reade
1889 births
1963 deaths
British Army generals
Academics of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
British Army personnel of World War I
British Army generals of World War II
British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
British Somaliland in World War II
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry officers
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley
Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate
People from Farnham
Recipients of the Military Cross
South Wales Borderers officers
Military personnel from Surrey
War Office personnel in World War II