Major-General Sidney Charles Manley Archibald MC (30 October 1890 – 1 January 1973) 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 in both

World War I 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

World War II 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 ...

Military career

Born in 1890, Archibald, after attending and later graduating from 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 ...

, was commissioned into 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 ...

on 23 December 1910. He served in France throughout

, where 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 i ...

. Like many others of his generation, he remained in the army during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

and, after being married in 1925, 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 1926−1927, where

Harold Alexander Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served with distinction in both the First and the Second World War and, afterwards, as Governor Ge ...

, Douglas Wimberley,

Charles Hudson Charles Hudson may refer to: * Sir Charles Hudson, 1st Baronet (1730–1813), English baronet * Charles Hudson (American politician) (1795–1881), American historian and politician, Congressman in U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts * ...

and Brian Robertson were among his classmates. He then served on the staff of Northern Command, India, from 1929−1930, and later attended the Imperial Defence College in 1933. After that, from 1934, he served as a Staff officer in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, until 1937, the same year he was promoted to

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 ...

. The next year saw him being made an Assistant Quartermaster-Master General with Anti-Aircraft Command, later going on to command the 34th Anti-Aircraft Group the year after that. Archibald was promoted to major-general in 1940, the year after the outbreak of

, where he served with Home Forces as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 11th Anti-Aircraft Division from 1941 to 1943. That year saw him as Advisor to Canada on Anti-Aircraft Defences until 1944 saw him retire from the army after well over thirty years of service. Archibald, in his retirement, was Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery from 1952 to 1958. He died in

Dorchester, Dorset Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of the ...

on 1 January 1973, at the age of 82.

References

Bibliography

External links

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archibald, Sidney 1890 births 1973 deaths British Army generals of World War II British Army major generals British Army personnel of World War I Royal Artillery officers Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Recipients of the Military Cross Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst