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 Desmond Francis Anderson (5 July 1885 – 29 January 1967) 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 An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and the

Second World Wars 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 opposing ...

Early life and First World War

Anderson was born in

Dunham Massey Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouses and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Hall and Park, formerly th ...

and attended

Rugby College WCG (formerly ''Warwickshire College Group'' and ''Warwickshire College'') is the managing body that administers several colleges of further education in the English West Midlands, namely in the counties of Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Its m ...

before entering 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 ...

, where he 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 ...

into the

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

in 1905. He transferred to the

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

in 1910. He served as the

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

of the 1st Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment from 1912. Then he went with the battalion to 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 ...

in 1914, where he served until July 1917 in a number of combat and staff roles, during which time he was wounded and received 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 ...

in 1915. A

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1916, he fought in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

as a

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by country, ...

of Company 'C', he 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 ...

four times and in 1920 received the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

for his wartime service.

Between the wars

After attending staff college, he was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Bn

in 1927, Assistant Quartermaster General at

Aldershot Command Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

in 1932 and General Staff Officer Grade 1 at

5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *5th Division (Australia) * 5th Division (People's Republic of China) *5th Division (Colombia) *Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War) *5th Light Cavalry Division (France) *5th Moto ...

in 1933. He went on to be Deputy Director of Military Operations & Intelligence 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 ...

in 1934, Deputy Director of Military Intelligence at the War Office in 1936 and Major-General in charge of Administration for Eastern Command in 1938.

Second World War

The British Army in the Middle East 1943 E26199

At the start of the war Anderson was major-general on the General Staff for the Home Forces. He became General Officer Commanding 45th Infantry Division in early 1940 and then spent a few months as

Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff The Assistant Chief of the General Staff and Army Chief of Staff is a senior role in the British Army. Responsibilities The Assistant Chief of the General Staff supports the Chief of the General Staff in his responsibilities, sets the conditions ...

at the War Office before becoming General Officer Commanding 46th Division in June 1940. He was promoted to command

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

in December 1940. During 1942 he went to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

where III Corps were part of

Persia and Iraq Command The Persia and Iraq Command was a command of the British Army established during the Second World War in September 1942 in Baghdad. Its primary role was to secure from land and air attack the oilfields and oil installations in Persia (officially ...

's Tenth Army. In 1943 he transferred to command

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

and he retired from the army in 1944.

References

Bibliography

External links