General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Mervyn Andrew Haldane Butler, (1 July 1913 – 3 January 1976) 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 served as Commander-in-Chief Strategic Command.

Military career

Mervyn Butler was educated at St Columba's College,

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council a ...

, Ireland 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 ...

.Who Was Who Volume V11 1971–1980 (1981) He was 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

South Lancashire Regiment The South Lancashire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment, which recruited, as its title suggests, primarily from the South Lancashire area, was created as part of the Childers Ref ...

on 4 February 1933 and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 2 February 1936. He was again promoted, this time to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, on 2 February 1941. He transferred to the Parachute Regiment and served with distinction 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 ...

, being awarded both 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, typ ...

and 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 ...

for his services.Whitaker's Almanacks He transferred to the

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before bein ...

on 20 July 1946. Butler commanded the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade from 1955 to 1957. During the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

elements of the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade led by Butler and a contingent of the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

set off south along the canal bank on 6 November 1956 to capture

Ismailia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...

. Just before midnight Butler was ordered to stop on the hour, when a ceasefire would come into effect. This raised a difficulty. There were Egyptian forces ahead; the British column was in open desert with no defensible feature to hand. Butler compromised, advancing until 0:15 am on 7 November 1956 to reach El Cap, where he sited the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, with supporting detachments. He was awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his Distinguished Service Order on 13 June 1957. Butler was General Officer Commanding 2nd Division from 1962 to 1964.Army Commands
Mervyn Butler headstone

In 1964 Butler was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Studies (Joint Warfare) and then in 1966 went on to be Commandant of 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 ...

. From 1968 to 1970 he was General Officer Commanding 1 (British) Corps. He was General Officer Commanding

Army Strategic Command The Army Strategic Reserves Command ( id, Komando Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat; abbreviated ) is a combined-arms formation of the Indonesian Army. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has up to 35,000 troops. It also supervises operationa ...

from 1970 to 1971 before going on to serve as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies from January 1972 to 1973. He was promoted to general on 14 January 1972. He was also Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment from 1967 to 1972. Butler was appointed a

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 ...

for service in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

in 1957, a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in the

1964 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1964 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1964 to celebrat ...

, and advanced to

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in the

1968 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1968 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the '' Lo ...

. On his death in 1976 Butler was buried in

Aldershot Military Cemetery Aldershot Military Cemetery is a burial ground for military personnel, or ex-military personnel and their families, located in Aldershot Military Town, Hampshire. The cemetery was created in 1850s by the Royal Engineers during the building of A ...

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Mervyn 1913 births 1976 deaths British Army generals British Parachute Regiment officers Knights Commander 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 British Army personnel of World War II British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency Burials at Aldershot Military Cemetery South Lancashire Regiment officers Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley Suffolk Regiment officers People educated at St Columba's College, Dublin