Major General David Noel Hugh Tyacke CB OBE (18 November 1915 – 10 February 2010) 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. His last post was as General Officer Commanding the Singapore District and he had previously been the last commanding officer of 1st Battalion,

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd (Cornwall Light ...

(DCLI) prior to amalgamation into the

Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry (SCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in October 1959 by the merger of the Somerset Light Infantry and the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and was itself merged with ...

Early life

Tyacke was born and raised in

Breage Breage or Breaca (with many variant spellings) is a saint venerated in Cornwall and South West England. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall. The village and civil pari ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, where his family had been involved in

tin mining Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use can ...

since the early years of the 18th century. His father, Captain Charles Noel Walker Tyacke served in the DCLI during the First World War, fighting at Ypres and Arras, before being killed near the Somme with the 5th Battalion in 1918. Tyacke's mother, Phoebe Mary Cicely Tyacke (née Coulthard), was then living at the vicarage in Breage. Tyacke was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

(1929–33) and the Sandhurst Military College. He joined 2nd Battalion the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1935, joining the 1st Battalion in India in 1936.

Second World War

At the start 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 ...

he was on leave in Britain, and joined the 2nd Battalion in France. Following a fighting retreat to

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Bray-Dunes Bray-Dunes (; vls, Bray-Duunn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on the Belgian border, with Adinkerke being the closest Belgian town. It is the northernmost commune and the northernmost point in all of Fran ...

. The regiment reformed after Dunkirk at

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. T ...

, where Tyacke married Diana in June 1940. After a period defending

Selsey Bill Selsey Bill is a headland into the English Channel on the south coast of England in the county of West Sussex. The southernmost town in Sussex is Selsey which is at the end of the Manhood Peninsula and ''Selsey Bill'' is situated on the town's so ...

during the Battle of Britain, and then at Southampton under Montgomery, in 1943 Major Tyacke was posted to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

to serve under

Orde Wingate Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World ...

. Tyacke was attached to the

Chindit The Chindits, officially as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British and Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The British Army Brigadier Orde Wingate form ...

staff for

Operation Thursday The Chindits, officially as Long Range Penetration Groups, were special operations units of the British and Indian armies which saw action in 1943–1944 during the Burma Campaign of World War II. The British Army Brigadier Orde Wingate forme ...

, and was the last staff officer at Chindit HQ to see Wingate alive on 24 March 1944. After this the Chindits were under the command of the US General

Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. An early American popular hero of the war for leading a column walking ...

and Tyacke remained on the staff at Shaduzup in Burma until relieved by the 36th British Division.

Post war

Tyacke worked for a time 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 ...

, and then was Second in Command of the DCLI in the West Indies. In 1957 he was promoted to command the regiment (by now back home in

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

), and took part in the celebrations of the centenary of the Defence of Lucknow, in which the DCLI's predecessor regiment, the 32nd Foot, had played a leading rôle. Tyacke was promoted to Major General in 1966, and appointed General Officer Commanding the

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

District - covering an area stretching from

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Retirement

Tyacke left the Army in 1970, but continued to work as the Controller of the

Army Benevolent Fund ABF The Soldiers' Charity, formerly the Army Benevolent Fund,Third Sector Magazine"Charity rebranding: a change of vision and strategy" ''Third Sector Magazine'', 06/04/10 is the national charity of the British Army. Since 1944, it has provided ...

. He was Colonel of

The Light Infantry The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Brigad ...

from 1972 to 1977, and a member of the council of his old school, Malvern College, from 1978 to 1988. He died on 10 February 2010 at Winchester, where he had been living. His wife had predeceased him, and he was survived by their only son. Major General Tyacke was buried at Breage, the funeral was attended by about 120 people, including DCLI veterans and the

Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall. Since 1742, all the Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Cornwall. *John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1554 *John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath 1556–? ...

, Lady Mary Holborow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyacke, David 1915 births 2010 deaths People from Breage, Cornwall People educated at Malvern College Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of World War II British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Cornwall Burials in Cornwall