General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher (31 August 1895 – 5 January 1980) was a British soldier who became the second Commander-in-Chief of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

and the final non-Indian to hold the top post of the

after Partition.

Military career

Educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

, and was commissioned 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 infant ...

as a Second Lieutenant into the Unattached List for the Indian Army, 15 August 1914. He was attached to the 4th Battalion

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Re ...

in the UK from 25 August 1914 to 30 April 1915, when he joined 1st Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in France. He remained there until 8 November 1915, when he transferred to the 55th Cokes Rifles in India.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> Confirmed as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

in the Indian Army on 5 September 1915, he was promoted to lieutenant on 15 November 1916 (back-dated to 1 September 1915 on 17 August 1917). He transferred to the

31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers The 13th Lancers is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1923 as 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers by the amalgamation of 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers and 32nd Lancers. On Partition of India in 1947, the regiment wa ...

in 1916, and was promoted to acting captain on 23 May 1917, again receiving the rank from 16 October 1917, and was promoted to the substantive rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 15 August 1918. After the War he served in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

Waziristan Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...

, for which he was awarded a Military Cross (MC) on 1 January 1920. and then went to 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, whic ...

in 1926. He was appointed a General Staff Officer 3rd Grade from 7 July 1929 to 15 June 1931 then Deputy Assistant Adjutant General from 16 June 1931 to 6 April 1933 for the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

District in India.Half Yearly Army List January 1946 p.59 He was promoted to

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

on 15 August 1932, and

brevetted In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

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 colo ...

on 1 July 1937. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 1 November 1939, Bucher served in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, initially as

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of Sam Browne's Cavalry, then Assistant Commandant, Indian Cavalry Training Centre 1 March 1940 to 31 August 1940 then Commandant Indian Cavalry Training Centre 1 September 1940 to 23 January 1941. He was appointed Assistant Adjutant General at

GHQ India GHQ may refer to: * Garhwa railway station, in Jharkhand, India * General Health Questionnaire * General headquarters, or, specifically: ** General Headquarters (Pakistan Army) ** Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (General Headquarters in ...

from 24 January 1941 to 23 June 1941. He was made Assistant Quartermaster General in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

later that year and was put in charge of Administration at Southern Command in India on 21 March 1942, with the acting rank of major-general. 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 ...

on 21 July 1942 (with seniority from 1 July 1940), and advanced to temporary major-general on 21 March 1943. Appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) a ...

(CB) in the

1945 New Year Honours The 1945 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1945 for the Britis ...

, Bucher was promoted to the substantive rank of

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

on 6 April 1945 (with seniority from 5 June 1944). After the War he was appointed General Officer Commanding

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Area in India. Promoted to acting

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

on 4 August 1946, he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command in India and in 1948 he was made the Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army. Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division (KBE) in the 1948 King's Birthday Honours, he retired on 9 October 1949 with the honorary rank of general and was promoted to major-general on the reserve list on 26 September 1950, retaining the honorary rank of general.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bucher, Roy 1895 births 1980 deaths People educated at Edinburgh Academy Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Military Cross Cameronians officers British Army personnel of World War I Indian Army personnel of World War I Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Indian Army generals of World War II Chiefs of Army Staff (India) British Indian Army generals Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley