Alexander Gatehouse

Major-General Alexander Hugh Gatehouse DSO & bar MC (20 May 1895 – 21 August 1964) was a senior British Army officer who commanded the 10th Armoured Division during the North African campaign of World War II.

Alexander Gatehouse
Nickname(s)"Alec"
Born20 May 1895
Died21 August 1964 (aged 69)
Sweden
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1914–1947
RankMajor-General
Service number5979
UnitNorthumberland Fusiliers
Royal Tank Corps
Commands heldMechanisation Experimental Establishment
4th Royal Tank Regiment
4th Armoured Brigade
10th Armoured Division
1st Armoured Division
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsDistinguished Service Order & bar
Military Cross

Military career

He joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Northumberland Fusiliers in 1914 and fought in World War I.[1]

After the war he transferred to the Royal Tank Corps (later the Royal Tank Regiment) in 1931.[1] He was appointed commandant of the Mechanisation Experimental Establishment at Farnborough in 1933.[1]

He served in World War II as deputy commander of the 7th Armoured Brigade in the Western Desert from 1940, as commander of the 4th Armoured Brigade in the Western Desert from April 1941 and as General Officer Commanding 10th Armoured Division from June 1942.[1][2] His permanent rank was advanced to colonel on 6 November 1940, with seniority backdated to 1 July 1940.[3] Having led the 10th Armoured Division at the Battle of Alam el Halfa in September 1942 and then the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942[4] he became major-general in charge of administration at Washington D. C. at the end of the year, and military attaché in Moscow in 1944 before retiring in 1947.[1]

Family

In 1920 he married Helen Williams;[5] they had one son (Sir Robert Alexander Gatehouse, a Judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court).[6]

References

  1. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  2. Generals.dk
  3. "No. 35021". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 December 1940. p. 7203.
  4. "The 8th Army at El Alamein, October 1942". Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  5. Heraldry on line
  6. Obituary: Sir Robert Gatehouse The Telegraph, 8 November 2002

Bibliography

  • Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A Biographical Guide to the Key British Generals of World War II. Stroud: Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
Military offices
Preceded by
Herbert Lumsden
GOC 1st Armoured Division
July 1942
Succeeded by
Herbert Lumsden
Preceded by
George Clark
GOC 10th Armoured Division
1942–1943
Succeeded by
Charles Norman
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.