Montagu Brocas Burrows
Lieutenant General Montagu Brocas Burrows CB DSO MC (31 October 1894 – 17 January 1967) was a British Army officer who served in both world wars and became Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of West Africa Command from 1945 to 1946.
Brocas Burrows | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 October 1894 Reigate, Surrey, England |
| Died | 17 January 1967 (aged 72) Marylebone, London, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1946 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Service number | 17658 |
| Unit | 5th Dragoon Guards |
| Commands held | 1st Motor Machine Brigade 26th Armoured Brigade 9th Armoured Division 11th Armoured Division West Africa Command |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in dispatches (2) |
Military career
Educated at Eton College and Oxford University,[1] Burrows was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 5th Dragoon Guards, British Army.[2] He served in the First World War and became a prisoner of war.[1] He was deployed to the Murmansk coast with the North Russia Expeditionary Force in 1918.[2] In the 1920s he played cricket for Surrey County Cricket Club.[1][3]
He remained in the army and continued to serve during the interwar period; he became adjutant at Oxford University Officers' Training Corps (OTC) in 1920 and an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1922.[2] After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1925 to 1926, he became brigade major with the Nowshera Infantry Brigade in India in 1928 and then joined the 1st Cavalry Brigade at Aldershot in 1930.[2] He was on the General Staff at the War Office from 1935 to 1938 when he became the military attaché in Rome.[2][3]
He also served in the Second World War, initially as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 9th Armoured Division, for which he was promoted to acting major general on 1 December 1940,[4] in the United Kingdom from December 1940 to March 1942.[5] During this period he led Brocforce comprising the 9th East Surrey Regiment, two companies of artillery and a Pioneer battalion.[6] He was subsequently GOC 11th Armoured Division from October 1942 to December 1943 and was appointed Head of the British Military Mission to the Soviet Union in 1944.[2][3]
After the war he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of West Africa Command; he retired in 1946.[2][3]
References
- Cricket Info
- Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- Smart, p. 52
- "No. 35259". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 August 1941. p. 5006.
- Escape to Action by Sir Brian Horrocks, Page 100 St. Martin's Press, 1961
- Daniel, David Scott (1957). The History of the East Surrey Regiment. IV 1920–1952. London: Ernest Benn. p. 108. OCLC 492800784.
Bibliography
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
External links
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New post |
GOC 9th Armoured Division 1940–1942 |
Succeeded by Brian Horrocks |
| Preceded by Percy Hobart |
GOC 11th Armoured Division 1942–1943 |
Succeeded by George Roberts |
| Preceded by Francis Nosworthy |
GOC West Africa Command 1945–1946 |
Succeeded by Noel Irwin |