Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
Sir Henry Robert Kincaid Floyd, 5th Baronet,
[''Burke’s Peerage & Baronetage'', 106th Edition, Charles Mosley, Burke’s Peerage, Crans, Switzerland, 1999, , p. 1073.] (7 May 1899 – 5 November 1968
) was a British soldier.
Personal life
Floyd was the son of Captain Sir Henry Robert Peel Floyd, 4th Baronet (a captain in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
) and Edith Anne Kincaid-Smith. Floyd was the brother of
Charles Murray Floyd
Charles Murray Floyd, OBE, FLS, FRICS (12 September 1905 – 27 June 1971) was an English businessman, surveyor, land agent and local politician.
Biography
Charles Murray Floyd was born on 12 September 1905, .
Floyd married Kathleen Fanny Gretton (daughter of
John Gretton
John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, (1 September 1867 – 2 June 1947) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. Gretton won two gold medals in the 1900 Olympic Games.
Life and career
Gretton was the eldest son of John Gretton of St ...
) on 9 April 1922, with whom he had two daughters.
A fervent supporter of
horseriding
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
and
fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...
, he was killed in a riding accident at the age of 69.
Military career
Floyd was 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, C ...
and at 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 ...
. He was an officer in the
15th/19th Hussars
The 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of the 15th The King's Hussars and the 19th Royal Hussars in 1922 and, after service in the Second World War, it was a ...
and, having been promoted to
brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
, 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 served as Brigadier General Staff (BGS) to
VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to:
* VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars
* VIII Army Corps (German Confederation)
* VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Ar ...
, commanded by Lieutenant General
Sir Richard O'Connor. He served with VIII Corps throughout
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
and was described as "a tower of strength to the new commander
'Connorand became a good friend as well". From October 1944 he was
chief of staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
of the
Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General
Sir Richard McCreery
General Sir Richard Loudon McCreery, (1 February 1898 – 18 October 1967) was a career soldier of the British Army, who was decorated for leading one of the last cavalry actions in the First World War. During the Second World War, he was chief ...
, from 1944 to 1945.
Floyd served as
Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire
There has been a Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire almost continuously since the position was created by King Henry VIII in 1535. The only exception to this was the English Civil War and English Interregnum between 1643 and 1660 when there was no ...
from 1961 to 1968.
[20th century Lords Lieutenant](_blank)
Legacy
The
Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School (SHFGS) is an 11–18 mixed, grammar school and sixth form with academy status in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. It is named after Sir Henry Floyd, a former Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire. As a sele ...
in
Aylesbury
Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...
is named after him, as is part of the postgraduate medical centre at
Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital located on the parish borders of Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.
It was establishe ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Floyd, Henry, 2nd Baronet
1899 births
1968 deaths
15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars officers
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
British Army brigadiers of World War II
British Army personnel of World War I
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Deaths by horse-riding accident in England
Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Lord-Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire
People educated at Eton College
People from Buckinghamshire