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 ...

David Murrey Murray-Lyon, (14 August 1890 – 4 February 1975) was an officer in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. His final appointment was as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the

11th Indian Infantry Division The 11th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It formed part of Indian III Corps in the Malaya Command during the Battle of Malaya. The division was re-raised on 1 April 1965 and is presently ...

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

until he was relieved of his duty by Lieutenant General

Arthur Percival Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, (26 December 1887 – 31 January 1966) was a senior British Army officer. He saw service in the First World War and built a successful military career during the interwar period but is most noted for ...

. He was taken prisoner when Singapore fell to the Japanese, and spent the rest of the war in captivity.

Early life

Murray-Lyon was born in

Glendale, Northumberland Glendale is the name of a valley in North Northumberland that runs from the Cheviot Hills at Kirknewton, Northumberland, Kirknewton onto the Milfield Plain, formed by the River Glen, Northumberland, River Glen. However, the name is generally tak ...

, on 14 August 1890, the eldest son of Dr Thomas Malcolm Lyon, and a grandson of

David Murray Lyon David Malcolm Murray Lyon FRSE DPH (1888-1956) was an English physician and medical author. He was president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from 1945–47, and was editor of the Edinburgh Medical Journal. Life He was born in ...

of Ayr, Scotland. He married Meredith Napier in 1916, they had two daughters and one son.

Military service

Murray-Lyon 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 ...

in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

, the British Army's part-time reserve force, in 1908. He transferred to the 3rd Battalion (Depot), King's Own Scottish Borderers, as part of the reserve of officers, in 1910. In 1911 Murray-Lyon became a regular army officer and was transferred to the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry based in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

First World War

After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, many British regiments based around the world returned to join the fighting on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, the Highland Light Infantry returned in late 1914 and was in the trenches by the beginning of 1915. During the battles of 1915, Murray-Lyon was promoted to temporary captain and wounded twice and was

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 ...

and received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for his actions in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. After recovering from his wounds, he was based in England during 1916 as a major and Adjutant of the 4th Battalion. Murray-Lyon returned to France in December 1916 as second-in-command of the 2nd Battalion. He remained in the front lines throughout 1916 and most of 1917 with this battalion. In November 1917 he was given command of a battalion of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) . While in command of this battalion, he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) for his actions during an attack on his battalion trenches at

Mœuvres Mœuvres () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate in the ...

, the citation read: Between 1917 and 1918 he was

three times for his actions as a battalion commander. In April 1918 he was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel and took command of the 2nd Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry. In June 1918 he was given command of the 1st/15th Battalion,

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

. He commanded this battalion through the rest of the war.

Interbellum

Due to the downsizing of the British Army after the First World War, Murray-Lyon, along with many other officers, found commands few and far between and had their rank reduced, so Murray-Lyon became a major again. He returned to the Highland Light Infantry and became adjutant of the 6th Battalion in 1920 and later with the 2nd Battalion he held various posts in their advance parties and auxiliary forces based in Egypt and India. In 1927 he transferred across to the

and in 1932 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and took command of the 2nd Battalion,

4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles The 4th Gorkha Rifles or the Fourth Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 4 GR, is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Nepalese nationality, especially Magars and Gurungs hill tribes of Nepal. The Fourth Gorkha Rifles h ...

. In 1936 during fighting in Waziristan on the North West Frontier, Murray-Lyon received a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his DSO. He commanded the 2/4th Gurkha Rifles until 1939, when he became the liaison officer for the Indian Army in Scotland .

Second World War

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Murray-Lyon returned to India and was given command of the

Zhob Brigade The Zhob Brigade was an infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in November 1920, for service on the North West Frontier. During World War Two it was normal practice for newly formed battalions to be posted to th ...

, a regionally based command, in 1940. In October 1940, he was given command of the newly formed

11th Indian Division The 11th Indian Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Indian Army during World War I. It was formed in December 1914 with two infantry brigades already in Egypt and a third formed in January 1915. After taking p ...

Malaya

When the Japanese attacked

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

on 7 December 1941, they had already sent an invasion force to attack the British forces based in

. Murray-Lyon's 11th Indian Division was based in the north of Malaya, focused on the border with Thailand. Although the British Army in Malaya was expecting the Japanese invasion and had even prepared defences and plans for counterattacks, they still were overconfident and massively ill-prepared to face the highly disciplined, organised and battle experienced

Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

. Murray-Lyon's division looked good on paper, but in reality it consisted of two regular British Army battalions (

The Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

and the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

), the backbone of the division, four newly raised and half-trained Indian Army battalions and three Gurkha battalions, one of which consisted of 18-year-olds who had only recently arrived in Malaya. There were no tanks in the entire peninsula and a chronic shortage of aircraft. With this Murray-Lyon faced the Japanese attacks that came through southern Thailand in early December 1941. The Japanese assaulted Murray-Lyon's positions with incredible speed. Tanks, aircraft and infantry attacked in waves and constantly out-flanked any resistance. Before long the 11th Division was in full retreat, with the Japanese advancing so rapidly that their reconnaissance motorcyclists were often driving through the retreating columns. On one occasion Murray-Lyon was fast enough to draw his service revolver and shoot one off his motorcycle. Unfortunately for Murray-Lyon, the true extent of the ill-prepared defences of Malaya and the rapid mobility of the Japanese Army had not been discovered by the British commanders in Singapore, and as a result, he was dismissed from his command by Lieutenant General

on 23 December 1941. Murray-Lyon was taken prisoner by the Japanese when Singapore fell, and spent the rest of the war in captivity. Although a brave and competent commander, he was not offered another command, much to the surprise of other Indian Army officers.

References

*'Singapore Burning', Colin Smith. Penguin Books 2006. England.

External links

Indian Army Officers 1939−1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray-Lyon, David 1890 births 1975 deaths King's Own Scottish Borderers officers Highland Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of World War I Indian Army generals of World War II Military history of Malaysia Military of Singapore under British rule Officers of the Order of the British Empire World War II prisoners of war held by Japan British Indian Army generals Military personnel from Northumberland British World War II prisoners of war