William Stratton (British Army officer)
Lieutenant General Sir William Stratton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 October 1903 Madras, British India |
| Died | 25 November 1989 (aged 86) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1924−1960 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Service number | 27948 |
| Unit | Royal Engineers |
| Commands | Commander British Forces in Hong Kong 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division 169th Infantry Brigade |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order |
Lieutenant General Sir William Henry Stratton KCB, CVO, CBE, DSO (15 October 1903 – 25 November 1989) was a senior British Army officer who was Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong from 1955 to 1957.
Military career
[edit]Stratton was born on 15 October 1903 in British India but later went to England and, after graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 30 January 1924.[1][2] He was deployed to the Gold Coast before becoming Assistant Instructor at the Royal School of Military Engineering in 1933.[2]
He served in the Second World War as a brigadier on the General Staff of General Headquarters Home Forces and then of the General Staff of the 8th Army in Italy.[2] In 1944 he was appointed Commander of 169th Infantry Brigade.[2]
After the war he was appointed Chief of Staff at British Army of the Rhine, a post he held until 1949 when he became Commandant of the Joint Services Staff College.[2] In 1952 he became Head of the British Army Staff in Washington, D.C.[2] He went on to be General Officer Commanding 42nd (Lancashire) Division in 1953 and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong in 1955.[2] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1957 New Year Honours.[3] His last post was Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1957; he retired in 1960.[2]
He was also Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1960 to 1968.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "No. 32903". The London Gazette. 1 February 1924. p. 958.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sir William Henry Stratton". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ "No. 40960". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1956. p. 3.
External links
[edit]- 1903 births
- 1989 deaths
- Burials in West Sussex
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- British Army lieutenant generals
- British Army brigadiers of World War II
- Royal Engineers officers
- Military personnel of British India
- Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
- Military personnel from Chennai