Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Allan Macnab Taylor KBE MC (26 March 1919 – 13 June 2004) was a

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 who commanded 1st Division.

Military career

Educated at

Fyling Hall School Fyling Hall is an independent, co-educational day and boarding school situated near the small village of Fylingthorpe, near Robin Hood's Bay, south east of Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1923 by Mab Bradley, the school was then r ...

, Taylor was commissioned into the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...

in 1940 during

World War II 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 ...

.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> As a Squadron Commander with

7th Royal Tank Regiment The 7th Royal Tank Regiment (7th RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army from 1917 until disbandment in 1959. History The 7th Royal Tank Regiment was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. The regimen ...

, he took part in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

in June 1944, the seizing of a bridgehead over the

River Odon The Odon () is a river in the Calvados department, in Normandy, northwestern France. It is 47 km long and is a left tributary of the Orne. The river passes through Jurques, Aunay-sur-Odon, Baron-sur-Odon, Bretteville-sur-Odon, Épinay-sur-O ...

later in the month and the Battle for

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Obituary: Lieutenant General Sir Allan Taylor
The Times, 15 June 2004 He also took part in the crossing of the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

in March 1945. He was made Commanding Officer of

5th Royal Tank Regiment 5th Royal Tank Regiment (5 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army in existence for 52 years, from 1917 until 1969. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as E Battalion ...

in 1960 and Commanding Officer of

3rd Royal Tank Regiment The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army in existence from 1917 until 1992. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as C Battalion, Tank Corp ...

in 1961. He was appointed assistant adjutant and quartermaster general for 1st Armoured Division in 1962, Commandant of the Royal Armoured Corps Gunnery School at

Lulworth Lulworth is the popular name for an area on the coast of Dorset, South West England notable for its castle and cove. However, there is no actual place or feature called simply "Lulworth", the villages are East and West Lulworth and the coastal f ...

in 1963 and Commander of the

Berlin Brigade The Berlin Brigade was a US Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupation las ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1964. He went on to be General Officer Commanding 1st Division in 1968, Commandant of 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 ...

in 1970 and General Officer Commanding South East District in 1972. His last posting was as Deputy Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces in 1973 before he retired in 1976.

Family

In 1945 he married Madelaine Turpin (marriage dissolved in 1963); they had two daughters.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Allan 1919 births 2004 deaths Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies British Army generals British Army personnel of World War II Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Fyling Hall School People from Caterham Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Tank Regiment officers Royal Armoured Corps officers