William Gurdon Stirling

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Sir William Gurdon Stirling , GCB , CBE , DSO (born May 25, 1907 in Chelsea , London ; † August 29, 1973 in Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk , England ) was a British officer in the British Army , who last served as a general between 1963 and 1966 was commander in chief of the British Army of the Rhine . He was then a Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State from 1967 until his death .

Life

Officer training, World War II and the post-war period

William Gurdon Stirling was the son of Major Charles Stirling, who died as an officer in the Royal Horse Artillery during the First World War on November 19, 1914, and his wife Amy Harriott Gurdon. His paternal grandfather was General Sir William Stirling , who was Commander of the Royal Artillery between 1887 and 1890 and Lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1900 to 1902 and whose other sons included Brigadier General William Stirling and Brigadier General Walter Andrew Stirling. His maternal grandfather was Robert Thornhagh Gurdon , who from 1880 to 1892 and again in 1895 deputy of the lower house ( House of Commons ) was well after his elevation to the peerage as 1st  Baron Cranworth , of Letton and Cranworth in the County of Norfolk, on 28 January 1899 Member of the upper House ( House of Lords ) was. After attending Wellington College, he himself completed officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS). After graduation, he found numerous assignments in the Royal Artillery of the British Army and took part in missions in the Tunisian campaign and in northwestern Europe during the Second World War, for which he was mentioned in the war report ( Mentioned in dispatches ) and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1945 has been.

After the end of the war, Brigadier General (Brigadier) Stirling was the commander of the artillery units of the 1st Infantry Division deployed in the British Mandate Palestine between December 1946 and September 1948 and then briefly deputy head of the artillery department (Deputy Director, Royal ) from September to December 1948 Artillery) in the Ministry of war ( war Office ) . He served from January 1950 to June 1952 as Chief of Staff of the Air Defense Command (Chief of Staff, Anti-Aircraft Command) and subsequently between August 1952 and July 1955 as commander ( Commanding Officer ) in April 1951 in Hong Kong established 28th British Commonwealth Brigade which also included units from Australia , India , Canada and New Zealand . In 1951 he became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and received on April 8, 1952 the recognition of his coat of arms in the coat of arms role by the Lord Lyon King of Arms .

After his return was William Gurdon Stirling as Major General (Major-General) between January 1956 and March 1958 First staff officer at the head of the Imperial General Staff , General Gerald Templer . Thereupon in March 1958 he briefly held the post of commanding general ( General Officer Commanding ) of the 6th Armored Division (6th Armored Division) , which was dissolved in April 1958. He then succeeded Major General Cosmo Nevill as Commanding General of the 2nd Division (2nd Division) in April 1958 and held this command until February 1960, whereupon Major General Edward Alexander Wilmot Williams was his successor there.

Rise to General and Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State

Stirling itself was established in March 1960 as a lieutenant general (Lieutenant General) Commander in Chief of the Army Command West (General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command) , succeeding Lieutenant General Otway Herbert . He remained in this use until May 1961 and was then replaced by Lieutenant General Edward Howard-Vyse . During this time he was beaten on December 31, 1960 to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and since then has had the suffix "Sir". In June 1961 he replaced Lieutenant General Geoffrey Thompson as Military Secretary in the War Department and held this position until he was replaced by Lieutenant General John d'Arcy Anderson in March 1963. At the same time, in 1962, he took over the position of Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery .

Most recently, General William Gurdon Stirling in April 1963 by General James Cassels the post of commander in chief of the British Army of the Rhine (Commander-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine) . He held this position until his retirement in April 1966 and was subsequently replaced by General John Hackett . Between April 1963 and April 1966 he was also commander in chief of the NATO Army Group North NORTHAG ( Northern Army Group ) . During this time he served from 1964 to 1966 at the same time as aide-de-camp of Queen Elizabeth II. And also got on 1 January 1965, the Grand Cross ( Knight Grand Cross ) awarded the Order of the Bath (GCB).

On February 3, 1967, Stirling, who was also awarded the Officer's Cross of the US Legion of Merit , succeeded Air Chief Marshal Arthur Barratt as Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State . This honorary position, in which he holds the Sword of State of the British Crown Jewels in front of the Queen on official occasions , he held until his death on August 29, 1973. On October 26, 1973, Admiral Desmond Dreyer took over this honorary position of the royal household (Royal Household) .

William Gurdon Stirling was married to Frances Marguerite Wedderburn Wedderburn-Wilson from April 15, 1941 until his death. From this marriage the three daughters Elizabeth Christian Stirling, Patricia Anne Stirling and Mary Frances Stirling emerged.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 189
  2. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 58
  3. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 111
  4. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 266
  5. ↑ MINISTRY OF DEFENSE AND TRI-SERVICE SENIOR APPOINTMENTS , p. 14
  6. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 206
  7. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 193
  8. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 104
  9. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES (leighrayment.com)
  10. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 11
  11. ↑ SENIOR ARMY APPOINTMENTS: SINCE 1860 , p. 124
  12. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES (leighrayment.com)
personal data
SURNAME Stirling, William Gurdon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British general
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Chelsea , London
DATE OF DEATH 29th August 1973
Place of death Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk , England