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 ...

Dennis Edmund Blaquiere Talbot, (23 September 1908 – 27 June 1994) 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.

Military career

Educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, Talbot was commissioned into the

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Quee ...

in 1928. The first few years of his military career were spent with his regiment in

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 ...

before returning to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

where he commanded the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regimental Depot. After attending and later graduating from a shortened course at 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 January to April 1940, he was made a

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

of the 30th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Claude Nicholson. The brigade was deployed to France in May and, despite fighting bravely against overwhelming odds at the siege of Calais, was mostly captured by German troops. Talbot managed to escape, however, crossing the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and landing at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. After briefly serving as brigade major of the

47th (London) Infantry Division The 47th (London) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and remained in the United Kingdom until the end of the war. In March 1939, after the re-emergenc ...

141st (5th London) Brigade The 141st (5th London) Brigade (141 Bde) was an infantry brigade of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, that served in the First World War and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the Second World War. History Origin When the T ...

, he then served at

Combined Operations Headquarters Combined Operations Headquarters was a department of the British War Office set up during Second World War to harass the Germans on the European continent by means of raids carried out by use of combined naval and army forces. History The comm ...

in from 1941 to 1944, he became Commanding Officer of the 7th Battalion, the

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regi ...

, part of the

43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division was an infantry division of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). The division was first formed in 1908, as the Wessex Division. During the First World War, it was broken-up and never served as a complete formatio ...

, in

North West Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, Northw ...

. After the war, he became commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

(BAOR) in 1945 and attended the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...

the following year. He was then commander of the 18th Infantry Brigade in

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 ...

in October 1953 during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

and then commander of 99th Gurkha Infantry Brigade also in

in March 1955. After attending the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

, he went on to be General Officer Commanding East Anglian District in June 1958, Deputy Commander, British Army of the Rhine and Commander British Army Group Troops, Germany in April 1961 and Chief of Staff, British Army of the Rhine and General Officer Commanding Rhine Army Troops, Germany in 1963 before he retired in 1964.

Family

In 1939, he married Barbara Pyper; they had three sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Dennis 1908 births 1994 deaths Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany British escapees Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers People from the London Borough of Ealing Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army personnel of World War II British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency People educated at Tonbridge School Military personnel from London