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 ...

Henry Lowrie Davies (25 January 1898 – 6 July 1975) was a British Indian Army officer, who commanded the 25th Indian Division 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 opposi ...

. Following the Partition of India, he briefly served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Pakistan before returning to the United Kingdom to work as a civil servant.

Early life and military career

Davies was born in 1898, to 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. He was educated at

Dover College , motto_translation = I cannot refuse the task , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , headmaster = Simon Fisher , r_head_label = , r_head ...

and 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 ...

, before joining the

39th Garhwal Rifles The 39th Garhwal Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. History The regiment was first raised in 1887 as the Aligarh Levy but was disbanded after disgracing itself at the Rawalpindi Review in 1888. In 1891, the 39th (The Ga ...

(later the

18th Royal Garhwal Rifles The 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army, moving away from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. They were th ...

) in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1916. He served with them in the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...

of 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 ...

and as part of the "Army of the Black Sea" during the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

. It was for 'distinguished service in the Field with the British Army of the Black Sea' that he was 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 ...

as a captain with the 2/39th Garhwal Rifles. Returning to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, he was in service during operations in Waziristan in 1922–23. 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 ...

from 1928 to 1929. After Quetta, he was then posted as a staff officer grade 3 (GSO.3) to Northern Command. He later became

Brigade Major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section dire ...

of the

Peshawar Brigade The Peshawar Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in December 1907, for service on the North West Frontier. During World War II it was normal practice for newly formed battalions to be po ...

, with whom he saw active service during the Mohmand campaign of 1933. It was for 'distinguished service rendered in the field in connection with the military operations against the Upper Mohmands, period July–October 1933' that he was mentioned in dispatches and awarded 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, ty ...

. He then returned to senior staff duties, as a GSO.2 at the Military Department of the India Office."DAVIES, Maj.-Gen. Henry Lowrie", in ''Who Was Who'' (2007)
Online edition
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Second World War

In the early stages of the

, he was posted to operations in the North Atlantic as the GSO.1 of the force sent to occupy Iceland. However, he quickly returned to India in 1941, was appointed and Officer 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 ...

in the London Gazette of 1 July 1941, and in 1942 was appointed as a Brigadier on the General Staff of the Burma Army and Burma Corps. After heavy fighting in the Burma Campaign, the existing Burmese Army had been pushed back to the Indian border and effectively ceased to exist in May 1942. Davies was then appointed to command the newly created 25th Indian Infantry Division, forming in Bangalore to defend southern India against invasion. It trained for jungle operations through 1943, and was deployed during the Third Arakan Campaign in March 1944, pushing south along the Burmese coast. Davies relinquished command of the division in October 1944. Davies resumed a staff position after leaving the division, appointed as the Deputy Chief of the Indian General Staff. He was appointed a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

as a temporary Major-General in the London Gazette of 13 September 1945. He was promoted to the substantive rank of Major-General with seniority of 15 November 1946 in the London Gazette of 1 April 1947. He then became commandant of the

, and following the partition of India transferred to the Pakistan Army as Deputy Chief of the General Staff. He retired the following year in 1948.

Civil Service work

Returning to the United Kingdom, Davies joined the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

, where he was assistant director of the investigation division. He remained at the Ministry for fourteen years, before moving to the Historical Section of the Cabinet Office, where he worked as a historian on the Official Histories of the Second World War. He finally retired in 1972.

References

Bibliography

External links

Generals of World War II
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Henry Lowrie 1898 births 1975 deaths Indian Army generals of World War II Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross Pakistani generals British civil servants Indian Army personnel of World War I British expatriates in Pakistan Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta Commandants of the Staff College, Quetta British Indian Army generals People educated at Dover College