Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Edward Grasett (20 October 1888 – 4 December 1971) was a British-Canadian soldier who served with the British Army in Canada, England, India and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Education

Grasett was born in 1888 in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, the eldest son of Arthur Wanton Grasell of Toronto, Ontario and Catharine Frances Hewett of Halifax, Nova Scotia, daughter of Army officer

Edward Osborne Hewett Major-General Edward Osborne Hewett (25 September 1835 – 3 June 1897) was a British Army officer and member of the Royal Engineers who was the first Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada. He chose the Royal Military College's mo ...

. He was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto. He enrolled at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario in 1906.

Military service

Grasett was 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 24th of June 1909.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He served with distinction during World War I, earning the Military Cross (MC) in 1915, the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1918, and five times

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 ...

. He then 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 ...

from 1920 to 1921. He served on operations on the North West Frontier of India from 1921 and then as a

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

at the Staff College from 1935. As a Brigadier, he served on the General Staff in the headquarters of Northern Command from 1937 and was appointed Commander of British Troops in China in 1938. The Free French during the Second World War H31461

The Free French during the Second World War H31461

Grasett served in World War II as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the

48th (South Midland) Division The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as the 48th (South Midland ...

from 1941 and, promoted to acting lieutenant general on 7 November 1941, was made GOC of

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars *VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army ...

on the South Coast of England from November 1941. In 1944 he was posted to the War Office and served as Chief of the European Allied Contact Section of the SHAEF under General Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1944 to 1945. He was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jersey and Colonel Commandant

in 1945 and retired in 1947.

Awards and recognition

Knight Commander 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 ...

(1945) * CB (16 July 1940) * MC (17 January 1916) * DSO (5 June 1919) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (15 August 1946) * Order of the Red Banner (21 June 1945) * Chief Commander Legion Legion of Merit (8 November 1945)Extract from London Gazette 9 November 1945
/ref> *

1914 Star The 1914 Star, colloquially known as the Mons Star, is a British World War I campaign medal for service in France or Belgium between 5 August and 22 November 1914. Institution The 1914 Star was authorised under Special Army Order no. 350 in Nov ...

Clasp Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Medal bar, an element in military decoration * Fastener, a hardware device that mechanically joins objects together * ...

* British War Medal * Victory Medal * India General Service Medal ** Clasp Waziristan 1921–24 * He was also MID five times. * 19 October 1914 * 1 January 1916 * 4 January 1917 * 11 December 1917 * 5 July 1919

Family

In 1935, he married Joan Mary, who was the daughter of JK Foster of Egton Manor, Yorkshire.

References

Sources

*4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976. *H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada" 1997 Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1969. *H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC - A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982 *H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876–1918. Volume II: 1919–1984. Royal Military College. ingston The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984 *

External links

Biography of Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Edward GRASETT
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grasett, Arthur Edward 1888 births 1971 deaths Canadian Anglicans Canadian generals British Army generals of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit Royal Military College of Canada alumni Upper Canada College alumni Governors of Jersey Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of World War I British Army lieutenant generals Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Burials in Ontario British emigrants to Canada