Major-General Theodore Henry Birkbeck (1911–1976) 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.

Military career

Born the son of Major-General Sir William Birkbeck and Mabel Shaw, Birkbeck was transferred from a Territorial Army commission into the Border Regiment on 17 November 1932. He saw action in operations against the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

during the East African campaign and then as commanding officer of the 11th (Kenya) Battalion, King's African Rifles, in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

in autumn 1944 during the Burma campaign of 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 ...

. After the war he became commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

during the Palestine Emergency in 1947, commander of 70th East African Infantry Brigade in August 1955 during the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

and Deputy Military Secretary at 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 ...

in December 1958. He went on to be General Officer Commanding 49th (North Midlands and West Riding) Division and North Midland District of the Territorial Army in July 1960 and Director-General of the Territorial Army in September 1962 before retiring in February 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkbeck, Theodore 1911 births 1976 deaths British Army major generals Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Border Regiment officers British people of American descent British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency British Army personnel of World War II British military personnel of the Mau Mau Uprising