Bernard Fergusson, Baron Ballantrae

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Sir Bernard Fergusson (l.)
Coat of arms of Bernard Fergusson, Baron Ballantrae

Bernard Edward Fergusson, Baron Ballantrae , KT , GCMG , GCVO , DSO , OBE (* 6. May 1911 , † 28. November 1980 ) was a from Scotland originating Brigadier in the British Army , the last Governor-General of New Zealand , who was born in Britain , and military historians.

Military career

Bernard Fergusson came from an upper class family in Ayrshire ; his father was General Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet . He trained at Eton and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . He was nearsighted, but his father forbade him to wear glasses in Sandhurst. Instead, Fergusson used a monocle all his life , which became his trademark. After completing his training at Sandhurst, he served with The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland in Palestine and was wing adjutant to General Archibald Wavell , whose biography he later wrote. At the outbreak of World War II , Fergusson served as brigade major in the 46th Infantry Brigade in 1940 before becoming General Staff Officer . From 1943 to 1944 he was in command of the 16th Infantry Brigade , which was converted into a Chindit unit for operations in the jungles of Burma behind the Japanese lines, after which he became Director of Combined Operations . After the war, he held various posts including command of the 1st Battalion, Black Watch , until he retired in 1958.

Middle East service

After his attempt to be elected to parliament in 1946 failed, he returned to Palestine with the rank of brigadier and held various posts in the police and paramilitary forces of the British Mandate Government. At first he served as commander of the Police Mobile Force , a police unit of 2,000 men that was used as a force against the Jewish revolt. In late 1946, this unit was disbanded on the orders of the Commander of the Palestine Police Force , William Nicol Gray . Fergusson was appointed head of a police school that was to be built in Jenin , but was soon appointed by Gray as Special assistant to the commandant of police .

The Rubowitz case

Fergusson suggested to Gray, who, like himself, was a former member of the Royal Marines , to form a special unit to combat Jewish attacks and operations. This unit should include soldiers who had fought in special forces during the war. Gray then ordered the creation of two teams whose members had belonged to the Palestinian police and the Special Air Service . One team was supposed to operate in Haifa , the second in the Jerusalem area . The highly decorated soldier Roy Farran became the commander of the second team.

On May 16, 1947, Farran's unit arrested 16-year-old Alexander Rubowitz, who was hanging up posters for the Jewish underground organization Lechi in Jerusalem . Rubowitz was tortured by Farran's team to find out the names of his friends; he died as a result of the abuse. His body disappeared and was never found. A suspicion against Farran himself arose after a gray felt hat assigned to Farran was found near the spot where Rubowitz had been pushed into a car. Gray was reluctant to take action against Farran, hoping the information from Rubowitz would expose the Lechi group in Jerusalem. However, while Gray was in England, the Criminal Investigation Department began an investigation; then Farran went to Syria , but was persuaded to return. He later fled pre-trial detention in Jordan , but returned voluntarily. He was charged with a military tribunal in Jerusalem.

At the trial of Farran, Fergusson refused to testify on the grounds that he could incriminate himself. The mandate government said it would not take any action against Fergusson. The trial ended in Farran's acquittal, and Fergusson was removed from office; he then returned to Great Britain.

In 2004, previously secret documents were released that included a 1947 statement from Fergusson that Farran confessed to Rubowitz's murder and that he had reported this to Gray. In 2009, a private investigator said that, according to his findings, Farran personally smashed the skull of 16-year-old Rubowitz, who had not disclosed any information, with a stone.

Suez crisis

Field Marshal Gerald Templer was impressed by Bernard Fergusson's achievements during the Malay War of Independence and the Suez Crisis . Templer used him for psychological warfare in the planned reconquest of the Suez Canal and the subsequent overthrow of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser . Fergusson's extensive propaganda campaign was to be accompanied by ruthless air strikes on Alexandria . This plan was not implemented and psychological warfare had little effect on public opinion or morality in Egypt. The Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir protested sharply against the assertion made by British radio stations that Nasser was a tool of Zionism and their demand that Egypt must attack Israel .

Governor General of New Zealand

Bernard Fergusson was Governor General of New Zealand from 1962 to 1967. His father, Sir Charles Fergusson , had already held this office, as did his two grandfathers, Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet and David Boyle, 7th Earl of Glasgow . He loved the country and spoke Maori . In 1966 he inaugurated a school named after him in Upper Hutt , which was co-financed by him and his family and therefore adopted the family motto Dulcius ex Asperius (German = sweetie after difficulties ). In 1967 the Laura Fergusson Trust was set up, which works for the rehabilitation of neurologically ill people.

In 1968-69 Fergusson was a member of a group of observers in the Nigerian Civil War. In 1972 he was promoted to Life Peer as Baron Ballantrae , of Auchairne in the County of Ayrshire and The Bay of Islands in New Zealand .

In 1982 the Bernard Fergusson Memorial Scholarship was established by Maori Queen Te Atairangikaahu , funded by a fund she set up in memory of Fergusson. The aim is to enable Tanui members to study at the University of Waikato .

Further offices and honors

Fergusson was knighted in 1962 as the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George , in 1963 also to the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and in 1974 to the Knight Companion in the Thistle Order.

Fergussion was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Literature . Fergusson served as Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1973 until his death in 1980 . He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of New Zealand in London. In 1974 he was Chairman of the British Council and also Lord High Commissioner for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland .

Fergusson died in 1980, a few weeks after his wife Laura had a fatal accident. The couple's estate is in the National Library of Scotland . Laura and Bernard Fergusson had a son, George Fergusson , who was High Commissioner of New Zealand from 2006 to 2010 and has been Governor of Bermuda since 2011 .

Sports trophies were also named after him, such as a sailing trophy for the sailor of the year and a cycling trophy for school cyclists.

The Governor mountain in Antarctica bears in memory of Fergusson's office as Governor-General of New Zealand's name. The same applies to the Fergusson Glacier, which is not far away .

Works

  • Eton portrait. John Miles Ltd., London 1937.
  • Beyond the Chindwin. Collins , London 1945, ISBN 0-00-613870-5 ; Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2009, ISBN 1-84884-037-3 .
  • Lowland Soldier. Collins, London 1945.
  • The Wild Green Earth. Collins, London 1946.
  • The Black Watch and the King's Enemies. Collins, London 1950; Pilgrim Press, Derby 1974, ISBN 0-900594-27-6 .
  • Rupert of the Rhine. Collins, London 1952.
  • The Rare Adventure. Collins, London 1954.
  • The Business of War: The War Narrative of Major-General Sir John Kennedy. (Ed.) Hutchinson, London 1957.
  • The Watery Maze: The Story of Combined Operations. Collins, London 1961.
  • Wavell: Portrait of a Soldier. Collins, London 1961.
  • Return to Burma. Collins, London 1962.
  • The Trumpet in the Hall 1930-1958. Collins, London 1970, ISBN 978-0-00-211825-5 .
  • Captain John Niven. Collins, London 1972, ISBN 0-00-192148-7 .
  • Hubble bubble. Collins, London 1978, ISBN 0-00-211378-3 .
  • Travel Warrant. Collins, London 1979, ISBN 0-00-216792-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Brigadier Bernard Edward Fergusson, Baron Ballantrae on thepeerage.com , accessed September 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Palestine Post , October 8, 1947
  3. ^ Palestine Post . October 16, 1947
  4. ↑ Nick Kardahji: A Measure of Restraint: The Palestine Police and the End of the British Mandate (PDF; 983 kB) MPhil Thesis, Modern Middle East Studies. 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  5. ↑ Rambam - Alexander Rubowitz on youtube.com At the place where Rubowitz was kidnapped, there is now a memorial plaque.
  6. ^ K. Kyle: Suez: Britain's end of empire in the Middle East . Tauris, London 2003, ISBN 1-86064-811-8 , pp. 235-239.
  7. ↑ According to one source, Fergusson was born in New Zealand and probably grew up there too.
  8. ↑ fergusson.school.nz
  9. ↑ laurafergusson.co.nz
  10. ^ Bernard Fergusson Memorial Scholarship . Education Taranaki Incorporated , archived from the original on March 5, 2012 ; accessed on February 10, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
  11. ↑ nls.uk (PDF; 130 kB)
  12. ↑ sail-world.com
  13. ↑ horowhenua.kete.net.nz
personal data
SURNAME Fergusson, Bernard, Baron Ballantrae
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fergusson, Bernard Edward, Baron Ballantrae (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British soldier and governor
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1911
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1980