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 ...

Roy Charles Whitworth George Firebrace (16 August 1889 – 10 November 1974) 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 Head of the British Military Mission in Moscow 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 was also a sidereal astrologer, founder and editor of the journal ''Spica'', and a co-founder of the

Astrological Association of Great Britain The Astrological Association is a British astrological organisation. The Astrological Association of Great Britain (AA) was formed in London on 21 June 1958. Its founding members, notably John Addey and Roy Firebrace Brigadier Roy Charles Whit ...

Early life

According to data reported by him in ''Spica'' (January 1973), Firebrace was born on 16 August 1889 at 5:00 p.m. AST, in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, where his English father had an army post. He was second son of Lieutenant-Colonel George Firebrace, of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, of a branch of the family from which also came the

Firebrace baronets The Firebrace Baronetcy, of London, was a title in the List of extinct baronetcies, Baronetage of England. It was created on 28 July 1698 for Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet, Basil Firebrace, Member of Parliament for Chippenham (UK Parliament co ...

, and Agnes Adela, daughter of Henry Aylmer Porter, of Cranborne Court, Windsor Forest, Berkshire. His elder brother was Aylmer Firebrace.

Military career

Firebrace was commissioned into the

in 1908. He was promoted

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

in 1936,

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1937, and retired as a

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 ...

in 1946. He was the British military attaché in Riga before the beginning of the

and later in Moscow until 1940 as Head of the British Military Mission in Moscow. He acted as an observer and interpreter for

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

at the

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

and

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

conferences and when Molotov visited London in 1942 and ran the War Office Russian Liaison Group.

Nikolai Tolstoy Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky (russian: Граф Николай Дмитриевич Толстой-Милославский; born 23 June 1935), known as Nikolai Tolstoy, is a British monarchist and historian. He is a former ...

recounts some of Firebrace's military views and experiences in his 1977 book, ''

Victims of Yalta ''Victims of Yalta'' (British title) or ''The Secret Betrayal'' (American title) is a 1977 book by Nikolai Tolstoy that chronicles the fate of Soviet citizens who had been under German control during World War II and at its end fallen into the ha ...

''. Firebrace is also mentioned in

Nicholas Bethell Nicholas William Bethell, 4th Baron Bethell (19 July 1938 – 8 September 2007) was a British politician. He was a historian of Central and Eastern Europe. He was also a translator and human rights activist. He sat in the House of Lords as a C ...

's 1974 book, ''The Last Secret''. During his service in military intelligence, Firebrace was involved (in 1944) in the affair surrounding the arrest and prosecution of

Helen Duncan Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan (née MacFarlane, 25 November 1897 – 6 December 1956) was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735 for fraudulent claims. She was famous for producing ectopla ...

, a famous British

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

, under the

Witchcraft Act of 1735 The Witchcraft Act 1735 (9 Geo. 2 c. 5) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1735 which made it a crime for a person to claim that any human being had magical powers or was guilty of practising witchcraft. With this, t ...

(repealed by the

Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 t ...

government in 1951).

Astrology

The Brigadier became interested in astrology relatively early in life but it was not until after the war that he became really active in astrological circles. At first his interest extended to psychic studies and for many years he was president of the College of Psychic Studies in London. A big-framed man, known affectionately as "the Brig", Firebrace worked closely with the eminent siderealist

Cyril Fagan Cyril Fagan (born Dublin, Ireland, May 22, 1896, died Tucson, Arizona, United States, January 5, 1970) was an Irish astrologer, Generally considered ''the father'' - alongside Donald A. Bradley, ''the mother'', of Sidereal astrology '' Sid ...

(1896–1970) and gained a lifelong interest in

sidereal astrology '' Sidereal'' and ''tropical'' are terms used to describe two different definitions of a year, applied in sidereal solar calendars or tropical solar calendars. In astrology, they refer to two different systems of ecliptic coordinates used to di ...

. Firebrace co-founded the

with John Addey in 1958 and was its first president. His enthusiasm for sidereal astrology was resisted by other members; in March 1961 he resigned to found ''Spica'', the quarterly journal he published until October 1974. This publication was a major driving force behind the western siderealist movement in the second half of the 20th century.

Works

Firebrace wrote a series of books called the "Astrology Moray series" and contributed to ''American Astrology'' magazine. ;Astrology Moray series * * * * ;Current editions *

Personal life

In 1916, Firebrace married Esme, eldest daughter of Henry Claud Lyall, of The Hurst,

Headley, Surrey Headley is a village and civil parish in the North Downs in Surrey, England. The nearest settlements are, to the west, Mickleham and Leatherhead; to the north, Ashtead and Langley Vale; to the east, Walton-on-the-Hill; and to the south, Box Hi ...

, of a landed gentry family. They had a son, Anthony, and a daughter, linguist Margaret Anne ("Margot"), who respectively married a daughter and a son (Richard John Boileau Walker, curator of the

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...

), of Commander Kenneth Ralph Walker, RN, of Scotnish,

Lochgilphead Lochgilphead (; gd, Ceann Loch Gilb ) is a town and former burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom, with a population of around 2,300 people. It is the administrative centre of Argyll and Bute. The village lies at the end of Loch Gi ...

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

and the Dower House,

Crawley, Hampshire Crawley is a small village in Hampshire, England. It is a few miles from the county town (and former capital) of Winchester. It is a civil parish within the City of Winchester local government district. The village is the location of Crawley ...

.Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage, John Debrett, Kelly's Directories Ltd, 1973, p. 2636

Notes

References

*Ken Gillman, "Roy C. Firebrace", in John McKay-Clements, ''The Canadian Astrology Collection,'' Toronto, Canadian Astrology Press, 1998, , pp. 24–25.

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firebrace, Roy C. 1889 births 1974 deaths 20th-century astrologers British Army brigadiers of World War II British astrologers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Halifax, Nova Scotia Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I British military attachés Canadian military personnel from Nova Scotia War Office personnel in World War II