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 ...

Hew Dacres George Butler, (12 March 1922 – 10 July 2007) was a senior officer in the

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 ...

Early life

Hew Dacres George Butler was born on 12 March 1922, the second of two sons born to

Stephen Seymour Butler, (1880–1964), by his wife Phyllis (died 1963), daughter of Capt. H. Critchley-Salmonson."Butler, Maj.-Gen. Hew Dacres George"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition), Oxford University Press, April 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2016. In 1954, he married Joanna Christiane Aline, daughter of Geoffrey Martin Puckridge, (died 1974); they had two sons and one daughter.
Portsmouth Evening News
', 18 October 1954, p. 5

Career

Following schooling at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, Butler was commissioned into the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

in 1941. He served in the Middle East with the 7th Battalion from 1942, but was wounded the following March during the Battle of Mareth Line and taken prisoner. Eventually transferred to Stalag VIIA, he escaped in December 1943 but was recaptured."Major-General Hew Butler"
''Telegraph'', 13 September 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2016. He served out the rest of the War as prisoner. In 1949, Butler was posted as an Instructor at the School of Infantry. He was Brigade Major of the

7th Armoured Brigade 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

between 1951 and 1953 and then served in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

between 1954 and 1955. Two years later, he was appointed an Instructor at the

Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For ex ...

, in which position he served until 1960. Two years later, he was placed in command of the 3rd Green Jackets, Rifle Brigade, in Cyprus, where he was mentioned in despatches. He then commanded the 24th Infantry Brigade in

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

(1966−67). He served as General Officer Commanding, Near East Land Forces, between 1972 and 1974 after which he was Chief of Staff with responsibility for Contingencies Planning at

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander ...

. He relinquished that appointed in 1976 and retired in 1977. In civilian life, he was Secretary of the

Beit Trust A Beit (also spelled bait, ar, بيت , literally "a house") is a metrical unit of Arabic, Iranian, Urdu and Sindhi poetry. It corresponds to a line, though sometimes improperly renderered as "couplet" since each ''beit'' is divided into t ...

from 1978 to 1993. He became a Deputy Lieutenant in 1980 and served as

High Sheriff of Hampshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959. List of High Sheriffs *1070–1096: Hugh de Port "Domesday Book Online" *1105: Henry de Port (son of Hugh) *1129: W ...

in 1983. He died on 10 July 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Hew 1922 births 2007 deaths British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Deputy Lieutenants of Hampshire High Sheriffs of Hampshire British World War II prisoners of war British Army personnel of World War II Rifle Brigade officers World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Escapees from German detention