Donald Powell

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, ty ...

(21 October 1896 – 8 August 1942) was an officer in the British Indian Army during

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 opposing ...

Biography

Donald Powell was born on 21 October 1896, at Jhansi and baptised on 4 January 1897, at Fatehgahr, the son of Richard John Powell of the Indian Public Works Department. He was educated at Bedford School 1908–14, and then he went to 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 infant ...

from where he was first commissioned on 11 November 1914 as a Second Lieutenant on the Unattached List for the Indian Army. On 25 January 1915 he was appointed as a company officer to the 1st Battalion, 30th Punjabis. He subsequently took part in the Mohmand campaign, August to October 1915. He served in East Africa with the 30th Punjabis 1 December 1916 to December 1917. He was wounded and received the Croix de Guerre. He had been promoted to Captain 11 November 1918, brevet Major 1 July 1929, and Major 11 November 1932, and held appointments as A.D.C. to the Governor of Madras, and as General Staff Officer 3rd grade at the India Office in London from 4 April 1932 to 6 September 1932. On 3 July 1937 Powell was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and appointed to the command of his battalion, now called the 1st battalion, 16th Punjab regiment. In October 1937 the 1/16 Punjab Regiment was assigned to the 3rd (Jhelum) Brigade, at Ghariom, and the following month the Brigade moved to Mir Ali, with posts at Tal and Damdil, to protect the road to Razmak. In April 1938 the Fakir assembled a large lashkar (tribal raiding party) at Mami Rogha, which proceeded to raid convoys on the Bannu-Razmak road and blockade the Tochi Scout post at Datta Khel. To deal with this threat, 3rd Brigade advanced to Dosalli and joined the Razmak Brigade to form a force called 'Wastrike', and Powell, having been appointed Acting Brigadier, assumed command of the Brigade. On 18 July 'Wastrike' was dispersed and he relinquished the rank of acting Brigadier. During the operations in Waziristan in 1938 total casualties amounted to 62 killed and 268 wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Powell was awarded the D.S.O. and mentioned in despatches. On 16 March 1940 Powell was again appointed Temporary Brigadier,War services of British and Indian officers of the Indian Army 1941 commanding 20 (Indian) Brigade, consisting of 2/8 Gurkha Rifles, 2/7 Gurkha Rifles and 3/11 Sikh Regiment. The Brigade formed part of the 10th Indian Division, commanded by Major-General W. A. K. Fraser, then, from May 1941, Major-General William Slim. As part of

Iraqforce Iraqforce was a British and Commonwealth formation that came together in the Kingdom of Iraq. The formation fought in the Middle East during World War II. Background During World War I, the British Army defeated the Ottoman Army in the Middle Eas ...

(or Paiforce in Persia), Brigadier Powell commanded the 20th Indian Brigade of the

Indian 10th Infantry Division The 10th Indian Infantry Division was a war formed infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. In four years, the division travelled over from Tehran to Trieste, fought three small wars, and fought two great campaigns: the ...

during the

Anglo-Iraqi War The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Gaylani, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, with assistance from Germany and Italy. The ca ...

, the

Syria–Lebanon campaign The Syria–Lebanon campaign, also known as Operation Exporter, was the Allied invasion of Syria and Lebanon (then controlled by Vichy France) in June and July 1941, during the Second World War. The French had ceded autonomy to Syria in Septemb ...

, and the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia. Brigadier Powell relinquished command of 20 Indian Brigade in March 1942 and returned to England. He died on 8 August 1942 at a military hospital and was buried at Bedford Cemetery, Bedfordshire.

Command history

* 1937–1939: Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion 16th Punjab Regiment * 1940–1942: Commanding Officer, 20th Indian Brigade

Biography

Command history

References

See also