Major General Horace Leslie Birks, CB, DSO (7 May 1897 – 25 March 1985) was a senior officer of the British Army who saw active service during both the First World War and the Second World War, where he commanded the 10th Armoured Division.[1]
Horace Birks | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 May 1897 Stoke Newington, London, England |
| Died | 25 March 1985 (aged 87) New Forest, Hampshire, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Years of service | 1915–1946 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Service number | 22474 |
| Unit | Machine Gun Corps Worcestershire Regiment Royal Tank Corps |
| Commands held | 10th Armoured Division (1943–44) 11th Tank Brigade (1942) 11th Armoured Brigade (1941–42) 126th Infantry Brigade (1941) |
| Battles/wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (2) |
Military career edit
Educated at University College School,[2] Birks volunteered for military service in the British Army, joining the London Rifle Brigade in 1915 during the First World War and, after serving on the Western Front, was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Machine Gun Corps Heavy Branch in 1917 and fought at the Battle of Cambrai later that year.[3][4]
Birks remained in the army after the war and was appointed an instructor at the Royal Tank Corps Schools in 1919 and, after service in India and then as a General Staff Officer (GSO) back in the United Kingdom, he became an instructor at the Staff College, Quetta in 1937.[3][4]
Birks served in the Second World War as second-in-command of 4th Armoured Brigade in Egypt from 1940, then took command of the 126th Infantry Brigade from September 1941. The brigade was part of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division and converted to an armoured role as the 11th Tank Brigade in 1942 and remained under Birks' command. It did not see active service as a unit, and spent the war in the United Kingdom, as part of the 42nd Armoured Division, before disbandment in late 1943. He went on to be General Officer Commanding (GOC) 10th Armoured Division in North Africa in January 1943 and commander of the Royal Armoured Corps for the Allied Central Mediterranean Force in Italy in 1944 before retiring from the army in 1946.[3][4]
In an interview with the BBC in 1963, Birks detailed his involvement in the tank battles of the First World War.[5]
References edit
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 33.
- ^ "List of Old Gowers". Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ^ a b c Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ a b c "British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ^ "The Great War Interviews". BBC. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
Bibliography edit
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.