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 ...

Henry ("Harry") Osborne Curtis CB, DSO, MC, DL (18 November 1888 – 28 January 1964) 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 who saw service 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 ...

. During the latter, he commanded the 46th Infantry Division during the Battle of France in 1940, and later the

49th (West Riding) Infantry Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

during the

Occupation of Iceland The Allied occupation of Iceland during World War II began with a British invasion intent on occupying and denying Iceland to Germany. The military operation, codenamed Operation Fork, was conducted by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. In t ...

from 1940 to 1942.

Early life

Curtis was born 18 November 1888. He was the son of Osborne Sargent Curtis, an American-born graduate of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, and Frances Henrietta Gandy. His paternal uncle was the artist

Ralph Wormeley Curtis Ralph Wormeley Curtis (August 28, 1854 – February 4, 1922) was an American painter and graphic artist in the Impressionist style. He spent most of his life in Europe, where he was a close associate of his distant cousin, John Singer Sargent, ...

(1854–1922) and his grandfather was the American lawyer and banker, Daniel Sargent Curtis (1825–1908).

Military career

After being educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, Curtis attended 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 infant ...

, from where he was commissioned in the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) in 1908. He saw service during 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 ...

in France, Salonika and in Palestine. He was mentioned in dispatches three times and wounded three times; he was awarded the MC in 1917, and the DSO in 1919 and ended the conflict as a battalion commander, commanding the 4th Battalion, KRRC. Soon afterwards, in 1920, he attended the

Staff College, Quetta ( ''romanized'': Pir Sho Biyamooz Saadi)English: Grow old, learning Saadi ur, سیکھتے ہوئے عمر رسیدہ ہو جاؤ، سعدی , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'' in Deolali, British India) , closed ...

, and served from 1922 to 1926 with the headquarters of Middle East Command, 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to serve on the directing staff at the Staff College, Camberley. He returned to regimental duty when he was assigned as commanding officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, KRRC, a post he held from 1931 to 1934. From 1934 until 1936 he commanded British troops in Palestine before again returning to the United Kingdom and the Staff College, Camberley, again as an instructor. In 1938 he assumed command of the

3rd Infantry Brigade The 3rd Infantry Brigade was a Regular Army infantry brigade of the British Army, part of the 1st Infantry Division. Originally formed in 1809, during the Peninsular War, the brigade had a long history, seeing action in the Second Anglo-Afg ...

. He commanded the brigade, part of

Sir Harold Alexander's 1st Infantry Division, from 1938 to 1939. Handing over the brigade to Brigadier Thomas Wilson, a fellow KRRC officer, he was sent home from France in December 1939 and promoted to acting major-general on 21 December (with seniority backdated to 18 July 1938), to assume command of the 46th Division. Curtis rejoined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) with his division in April 1940. Evacuated from Dunkirk, he was appointed to command the

in June 1940 which, at a reduced establishment, was detailed to occupy Iceland. Curtis spent the next two years in charge of his division from his office in Reykjavik. Made commander of Salisbury Plain District 1943, he was appointed commander of the Hampshire District in 1944 and the Dorset District in 1945. He retired from the army in 1946. The family donated his medals to the Royal Green Jackets Museum but, at some point, some of the original medals have been substituted and were found for sale on the open market.

Personal life

Curtis was married to Jean Mackenzie Low (1894–1977), the daughter of John L. Low of Butterstone, Perthshire. He was the father of four sons, two of whom were killed in action, Richard Osborne Curtis (d. 1944) and Philip Evelyn Curtis (d. 1943).

References

Bibliography

External links

British Army Officers 1939–1945
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Henry 1888 births 1964 deaths British Army major generals British Army generals of World War II British Army personnel of World War I British people of American descent Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Deputy Lieutenants of Dorset Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta King's Royal Rifle Corps officers People educated at Eton College Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Burials in Dorset Academics of the Staff College, Camberley