Henry Curtis (British Army officer)

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Henry Curtis
Nickname(s)"Squeak"[1]
Born(1888-11-18)18 November 1888
Died28 January 1964(1964-01-28) (aged 75)
Buried
Lytchett Minster Parish Churchyard, Purbeck District, Dorset, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1908–1946
RankMajor General
Service number4309
UnitKing's Royal Rifle Corps
Commands heldAldershot Command (1944–45)
Salisbury Plain District (1943–44)
49th (West Riding) Infantry Division (1940–43)
46th Infantry Division (1939–40)
3rd Infantry Brigade (1938–39)
1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (1931–34)
4th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (c. 1918–19)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Military Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (3)
Army Distinguished Service Medal (United States)[2]
Spouse(s)Jean Mackenzie Low
RelationsDaniel Sargent Curtis (grandfather)
Ralph Wormeley Curtis (uncle)

Major General Henry Osborne Curtis, CB, DSO, MC, DL (18 November 1888 – 28 January 1964) was a British Army officer who saw service in both the First and the Second World Wars. During the latter, he commanded the 46th Infantry Division during the Battle of France in 1940, and later the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division during the Occupation of Iceland from 1940 to 1942.[1][3]

Early life[edit]

Curtis was born 18 November 1888. He was the son of Osborne Sargent Curtis, an American-born graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge,[4] and Frances Henrietta Gandy.[5] His paternal uncle was the artist Ralph Wormeley Curtis (1854–1922) and his grandfather was the American lawyer and banker, Daniel Sargent Curtis (1825–1908).[6]

Military career[edit]

After being educated at Eton College,[1] Curtis attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,[1] from where he was commissioned in the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) in 1908.[7] He saw service during the First World War in France, Salonika and in Palestine. He was mentioned in despatches three times and wounded three times; he was awarded the Military Cross in 1917,[8] and the Distinguished Service Order in 1919,[9] and ended the conflict as a battalion commander, commanding the 4th Battalion, KRRC.[1]

Soon afterwards, in 1920, Curtis attended the Staff College, Quetta, and served from 1922 to 1926 with the headquarters of Middle East Command, before returning to the United Kingdom to serve on the directing staff at the Staff College, Camberley.[1] He returned to regimental duty when he was assigned as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, KRRC, a post he held from 1931 to 1934.[1] From 1934 until 1936 he commanded British troops in Palestine before again returning to the United Kingdom and the Staff College, Camberley, again as an instructor. In 1938 he assumed command of the 3rd Infantry Brigade.[3]

Curtis commanded the brigade, part of Major General Sir Harold Alexander's 1st Infantry Division, from 1938 to 1939.[10] Handing over the brigade to Brigadier Thomas Wilson, a fellow KRRC officer, he was sent home from France in December 1939 and promoted to acting major general on 21 December (with seniority backdated to 18 July 1938),[11] to assume command of the 46th Division.[10] Curtis rejoined the British Expeditionary Force with his division in April 1940. Evacuated from Dunkirk, he was appointed to command the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division in June 1940,[10] which, at a reduced establishment, was detailed to occupy Iceland. Curtis spent the next two years in charge of his division from his office in Reykjavik. Made commander of Salisbury Plain District in 1943,[10] he was appointed commander of the Hampshire District in 1944 and the Dorset District in 1945. He retired from the army in 1946.[10]

The family donated his medals to the Royal Green Jackets Museum but, at some point, some of the original medals have been substituted and were found for sale on the open market.[12]

Personal life[edit]

Curtis was married to Jean Mackenzie Low (1894–1977),[13] the daughter of John L. Low of Butterstone, Perthshire. He was the father of four sons, two of whom were killed in action, Richard Osborne Curtis (d. 1944) and Philip Evelyn Curtis (d. 1943).[14][1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Smart 2005, p. 76.
  2. ^ "No. 35645". The London Gazette. 24 July 1942. p. 3293.
  3. ^ a b "Biography of Major-General Henry Osborne Curtis (1888–1964), Great Britain". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Curtis, Osborne Sargent (CRTS878OS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^ Thayer, William Roscoe; Castle, William Richards; Howe, Mark Antony De Wolfe; Pier, Arthur Stanwood; Voto, Bernard Augustine De; Morrison, Theodore (1909). The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association.
  6. ^ Pub, Matthews, George E. , & Co (1898). The men of New York: a collection of biographies and portraits of citizens of the Empire state prominent in business, professional, social, and political life during the last decade of the nineteenth century ... G.E. Matthews & Co.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "No. 28185". The London Gazette. 13 October 1908. p. 7383.
  8. ^ "No. 30111". The London Gazette. 1 June 1917. p. 5476.
  9. ^ "No. 31370". The London Gazette. 30 May 1919. p. 6818.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Army Commands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  11. ^ "No. 34819". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 March 1940. p. 1825.
  12. ^ Sawer, Patrick (14 September 2019). "The descendant of the real life James Bond and the mystery of the missing medals". The Daily Telegraph.
  13. ^ Houterman, J.N. "Officers of the British Army 1939–1945 – C". www.unithistories.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  14. ^ Churchill, Winston; Gilbert, Martin (1993). The Churchill War Papers: The ever-widening war, 1941. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 1072. ISBN 9780393019599.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.

External links[edit]

Military offices
Preceded by GOC 46th Infantry Division
1939–1940 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division
1940–1943 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC Aldershot District
1944–1945 		Succeeded by
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