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 ...

Frank Keith Simmons, (21 February 1888 – 22 September 1952) 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 during 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 commander of the Singapore Fortress when it fell to the invading

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

in February 1942. He spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese.

Military service

Born on 21 February 1888, Simmons was educated at

Cranbrook School, Kent Cranbrook School (formerly Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School) is a co-educational state funded boarding and day grammar school in the market town of Cranbrook, Kent, England. Selection is made of pupils at age 11 and 13. History The school w ...

, and was, in 1907, 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

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusi ...

. He served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, on the Western Front, where he awarded 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 ...

and made a

Member of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

Remaining in the army during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, Simmons married in 1922 and attended from 1922 to 1923 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 ...

. Among his fellow students there included several future

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

s, notably Thomas Hutton,

Charles Fullbrook-Leggatt Major-General Charles St. Quentin Outen Fullbrook-Leggatt (16 August 1889 − 29 May 1972) was a British Army officer who served in both the world wars. Early life and military career Charles Fullbrook-Leggatt was born on 16 August 1889, the se ...

, John Evetts,

Gerald Smallwood Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Gerald Russell Smallwood (18 February 1889 – 3 February 1977) was a senior officer in the British Army who served during both World War I and World War II. Military career Smallwood joined the Ro ...

and Robert Money. After graduation from Camberley, he served as a

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

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 ...

from 1924 to 1927. Divorcing his wife in 1926, he remarried the following year and transferred to the

Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Al ...

. Simmons then served as a Military Attache to Spain from 1928 until 1931, whereupon he then commanded the 2nd Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, from 1932 to 1936. He then commanded the Southern Brigade in British mandated

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, accompanied by his wife, and was Chief Staff Officer to British Forces in Palestine and Transjordan, from 1937 until 1939, during the Arab revolt in Palestine. He was the commanding officer of British forces in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

in 1939 and 1940 and later the commander of British defences at 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 ...

Fortress in 1941.} On 1 January 1941, he was appointed

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 o ...

An ardent supporter of the concept that defence construction was detrimental to troop morale, Simmons was eventually placed in command of a committee to ascertain the readiness of Singapore's defences as the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese invasion became apparent. He was appointed to "develop" the defence plan 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 ...

. As the situation worsened for the Allies, Simmons was one of a few commanders privy to Percival's last-ditch defence plans and his "no surrender" policy of 11 February 1942. During the final days of the battle, Simmons was transferred and ordered to command the British forces in the 'Southern Area' of the battlefield, when the decision to surrender became apparent he joined fellow commanders in voicing the opinion that continued resistance was ill-advised. Simmons spent the next three years as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

in Japan, prior to his release in 1945 and retirement from the army in 1946.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Frank Keith 1888 births 1952 deaths British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine British World War II prisoners of war Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Highland Light Infantry officers Members of the Royal Victorian Order Military history of Singapore during World War II People educated at Cranbrook School, Kent People of British Singapore Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders officers Recipients of the Military Cross World War II prisoners of war held by Japan British Army major generals British military attachés