General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Frank Ernest Wallace Simpson, (21 March 1899 – 28 July 1986) was a senior

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer during the 1940s.

Military career

Born on 21 March 1899, Simpson was educated at

Bishop Cotton Boys' School Bishop Cotton Boys' School is an all-boys school for boarders and day scholars in Bengaluru, India, founded in the memory of Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta. The school is bordered by Residency Road, St Mark's Road, L ...

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, and at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

. He was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in May 1916.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in France and Belgium in 1918 and then after the war went to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and the North West Frontier of India and 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 ...

from 1931 to 1932. 16thpara1949

Simpson also served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, initially in France and Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force and was involved in the defence of Arras and then the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

in 1940. He became

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

to Lieutenant General

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...

in 1940 and then deputy director of Military Operations at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in 1942 being promoted to Director of Military Operations in 1943. After the war Simpson became Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff for Operations in 1945 and then Vice Chief of Imperial General Staff in 1946. In this role he fought cut-backs in the size of the army. In 1948 Simpson was appointed

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

-in-Chief Western Command and in 1952 he became

Commandant of the Imperial Defence College The Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies, formerly the Commandant of the Imperial Defence College, is the head of the Royal College of Defence Studies, a British military staff college which instructs senior officers, diplomats, and c ...

: he retired in 1954. He was made Colonel of the Royal Pioneer Corps from 1950 to 1961.

Retirement

In retirement Simpson became an advisor to the ''West Africa Committee'', a body formed to promote British business interests in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. He was a deputy lieutenant for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

from 1956 and was

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an Old soldiers' home, Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II of Eng ...

from 1961 to 1969.

References

Bibliography

External links

Generals of World War II
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Frank 1899 births 1986 deaths Bishop Cotton Boys' School alumni People educated at Bedford School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army personnel of World War I British Army generals of World War II Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Deputy lieutenants of Essex War Office personnel in World War II