Major-General Robert Harry Bertram Arkwright, (30 July 1903 – 14 November 1971) was a British Army officer who served in the Second World War and later commanded the 2nd Infantry Division.

Early life

Arkwright was born in

Bickley Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead, London, Elmstead to the north, Chis ...

, Kent, England, the son of Bertram Harry Godfrey Arkwright (1879–1949) and his wife Grace Emma Julia Hurt. Francis Arkwright was his younger brother. In 1927 Arkwright married Kathleen Gladys Hanbury. He lived at Pen y Bryn Hall in Montgomery.

Military career

After attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Arkwright was commissioned into the

12th Royal Lancers The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war ...

on 31 January 1924. He attended 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 1934 to 1935. Arkwright served in the Second World War, initially at the War Office as a General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2), then as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for the 1st Armoured Division during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

, as a General Staff Officer with the 8th Armoured Division and as brigadier responsible for Armoured Fighting Vehicles in the Eighth Army, before being made commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade in 1943. As commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, he took part in the Sicily landings, the Italy landings, both part of the Italian Campaign, and later the Civil War in Greece.Major-General Robert Harry Bertram Arkwright
/ref> After the war he became General Officer Commanding the 2nd Infantry Division in 1946, Director of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1947 and General Officer Commanding the

56th (London) Armoured Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. ...

in 1948. His last appointment was as General Officer Commanding 7th Armoured Division from 1949 until his retirement in 1951.

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939–1945
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Arkwright, Robert 1903 births 1971 deaths War Office personnel in World War II Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People of the Greek Civil War British Army major generals 12th Royal Lancers officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army brigadiers of World War II People from Bickley Military personnel from Kent