James Bowes-Lyon

Sir Francis James Cecil Bowes-Lyon KCVO CB OBE MC & Bar (born September 19, 1917 - † December 18, 1977 ) was a British officer and Major General of the Army . From 1968 to 1970 he was the 13th commandant of the British Sector of Berlin and thus one of the Allied city ​​commanders .

Beginning of the military career

James Bowes-Lyon entered the military in 1938 and was assigned to the Grenadier Guards .

During the Second World War he served in an armored division . As a military assistant, he moved in 1950 to the staff of Field Marshal Sir Francis Festing.1955 he became Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards and took over in 1963 the post of commander of the paratroopers - Brigade .

For three years as major general he was commanding general of the 52nd Division .

City Commander in Berlin

As the successor to John Nelson , Bowes-Lyon became the new commander of the British sector of Berlin in March 1968 and thus one of the Allied city commanders. Together with the Americans Robert G. Furgeson and George Seignious II (from February 1970) and the French Bernard Huchet de Quénetain and Maurice Routier (from 1970), he formed the highest authority of the western allies in Berlin . He was thus a member of the Allied Command , which was subordinate to the Allied Control Council .

As city commander, he assumed one of the most important and outstanding posts that the British military had to fill outside of Great Britain. As such, he was on the one hand the military, but above all the "political leader" of his country and exercised a kind of representative status for Queen Elizabeth II . because Berlin was formally outside the scope of the Federal Republic of Germany and Great Britain's ambassador residing in Bonn was not responsible.

Like his predecessors, Bowes-Lyon, as city commander, concentrated mainly on the political and diplomatic representation of his country and his duties as a member of the Allied Command, while the respective brigade commander took over the purely military command of the British armed forces in the four-sector city .

With the move to Berlin Bowes-Lyon moved with his family in the Berlin district Gatow located Villa Lemm . The members of the British royal family also resided on the property during their stays in Berlin. The function of the host towards the royal family was fulfilled by a British city commander at least once a year when the Royal Birthday Parade ("Queens Birthday Parade") was to be accepted on the Berlin Maifeld at the Olympic Stadium . For Bowes-Lyon this was a special circumstance, as he was related to the royal family.

In November 1970 Bowes-Lyon was recalled and replaced by Alan Cathcart, 6th Earl Cathcart, as city commander.

Final tasks

After his assignment in Berlin, Bowes-Lyon initially headed the budget department of the London District . He then returned to Francis Festing's staff and became its adjutant .

In 1973 Bowes-Lyon finally retired after 35 years of service .

Private

James Bowes-Lyon, who renounced the use of his actual first name , came from a family of officers. When Captain Geoffrey Francis Bowes-Lyon (1886-1951) and Edith Katherine Selby-Bigge (1889-1971) it was his parents. He was married to his wife Mary (1920-2007) since April 22, 1941. The marriage resulted in two sons and a daughter.

Bowes-Lyon had a considerable pedigree . His ancestors include Charlemagne , Henry II , Wilhelm the Lion , Alfred the Great , Robert Bruce and Hugo Capet . He was also a cousin of Queen Consort Elizabeth (1900-2002) and thus directly related to the British royal family.

James Bowes-Lyon lived in Sennicotts in West Sussex . He died on December 18, 1977 at the age of only 60.

Awards

• Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order ("Sir")
• Companion of the Order of the Bath
• Officer of the Order of the British Empire
• Military Cross (multiple)

literature

• Robert Corbett: Berlin and the British Ally 1945-1990 . 1991.

Web links

• The commanders of the British Sector of Berlin on the GSU History website