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Frederick Witts

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Frederick Witts
Born30 January 1889
Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire, England
Died10 March 1969 (aged 80)
Memorial Hospital, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1907–1943
RankLieutenant-General
Service number24225
UnitRoyal Engineers
Commands8th Indian Infantry Brigade
45th Infantry Division
59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division
Bombay District
Battles / warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Military Cross
Mentioned in dispatches (3)
RelationsFrank Witts (brother)

Lieutenant-General Frederick Vavasour Broome Witts CB, CBE, DSO, MC (30 January 1889 – 10 March 1969) was a senior British Army officer.

Military career

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Educated at Radley College,[1] Witts, the son of a clergyman,[2] was commissioned into the Royal Engineers after graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, on 23 July 1907.[3][2] He served in the First World War and was awarded the Military Cross, as well as the Distinguished Service Order (DSO),[4] and was mentioned in dispatches three times during the war.[2] The citation for his MC reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and coolness. Under heavy rifle and machine gun fire he made a personal reconnaissance of the river bank, and subsequently led a party of his men carrying a pontoon across the open and down the bank. Although wounded himself, and in spite of casualties among his party, which made the task increasingly difficult, he succeeded, in full view of the enemy, in launching the pontoon.[5]

Witts attended the Staff College, Quetta, from 1922−1923 and served at the War Office in London for the next four years.[2] After serving on the directing staff at the Staff College, Camberley, from 1930−1932,[2] Witts became Commander Royal Engineers for the 5th Infantry Division in 1933, Brigadier on the general staff of Western Command in India in December 1937 and commander of the 8th Indian Brigade in India in May 1938.[6]

In the Second World War he served as General Officer Commanding 45th Infantry Division from September 1939, Deputy Chief of Staff for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France from April 1940 and General Officer Commanding 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division from May 1940.[7] After that he became General Officer Commanding Bombay District in India from July 1941 and Acting General Officer Commanding Southern Command in India in 1942 before retiring in 1943.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Crisp, Frederick Arthur (1902). Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 10. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0788404054.
  2. ^ a b c d e Smart 2005, p. 344.
  3. ^ "No. 28049". The London Gazette. 9 August 1907. p. 5450.
  4. ^ "No. 30252". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 August 1917. p. 8854.
  5. ^ "No. 13071". The Edinburgh Gazette. 28 March 1917. p. 642.
  6. ^ "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  7. ^ Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1., p. 39
  8. ^ "Witts, Frederick Vavasour Broome". Generals.dk. Retrieved 29 June 2020.

Bibliography

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Military offices
New title GOC 45th Infantry Division
1939−1940
Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division
1940–1941
Succeeded by