Brian Horrocks
Sir Brian Horrocks | |
---|---|
Croix de Guerre (France) Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) | |
Other work | Black Rod Television presenter Author |
In 1940 Horrocks commanded a battalion during the Battle of France, the first time he served under Bernard Montgomery, the most prominent British commander of the war. Montgomery later identified Horrocks as one of his most able officers, appointing him to corps commands in both North Africa and Europe. In 1943, Horrocks was seriously wounded and took more than a year to recover before returning to command a corps in Europe. It is likely that this period out of action meant he missed out on promotion;[5] his contemporary corps commanders in North Africa, Oliver Leese and Miles Dempsey, went on to command at army level and above. Horrocks' wound continued to impair his health and led to his early retirement from the army after the war.
Since 1945, Horrocks has been regarded by some as one of the most successful British generals of the war, "a man who really led, a general who talked to everyone, down to the simplest private soldier" and the "beau ideal of a corps commander".[6][7]
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in Western Europe, called him "the outstanding British general under Montgomery".[8]
Early life
Brian Gwynne Horrocks was the only son of
He entered the
First World War
Horrocks was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Middlesex Regiment, a line infantry regiment of the British Army, on 8 August 1914.[16] Horrocks, in charge of a ninety-five-man draft of replacements, joined the 1st Battalion of his regiment as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the BEF's retreat following its baptism of fire at the Battle of Mons. By the time he and his men had got to Southampton his ninety-five-man draft had increased to ninety-eight, with three others, in their keenness to get into the war, having sneaked in.[14] He described the feeling at the time:
This was, I should think, the last time there was any romance attached to war. It is impossible now after the bitter experience of two world wars to recapture the spirit of this country in August, 1914. As I marched through those cheering crowds I felt like a king among men. It was all going to be over by Christmas and our one anxiety was whether we would get over there in time. And all ranks felt the same.[17]
Arriving in France, Horrocks was assigned to No. 16 Platoon of the 1st Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, with Captain Edward Stephen Gibbons (who was killed in 1918) as his
Incarcerated in a military hospital, he was repeatedly interrogated by his German captors, who believed that the British were using
Repatriated at the end of the war, Horrocks had difficulty adapting to a peacetime routine. He went on sprees in London, spending four years of accumulated back-pay in six weeks.[26]
Between the wars
Russia
In 1919 Horrocks was posted to Russia as part of the
Horrocks' first task, along with a party of 13 British officers and 30
His next assignment was in
Although British forces were ordered home shortly afterwards, Horrocks and another officer, George Hayes, remained to advise the First Siberian Army.[35] The White Army was in retreat, and Horrocks joined them as they fell back to Vladivostok, 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away. He was captured by the Red Army on 7 January 1920, in the town of Krasnoyarsk,[36] and spent 10 months as a prisoner, narrowly surviving severe typhus.[37] The British government negotiated a prisoner release, and Horrocks left Russia on 29 October, returning home on the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Delhi.[38]
Back home
Horrocks rejoined the 1st Battalion of his regiment, based in Germany with the British Army of the Rhine. His time was enjoyable for him, later writing:
For us in the occupation forces life in Cologne was very pleasant, because, owing to the chronic inflation of the German mark, we always had plenty of money, a most unusual experience for me.[39]
He then followed the battalion back to the United Kingdom during the 1921 coal strike, then to Ireland, which was then embroiled in the Anglo-Irish War. His duties included searching for arms and dealing with ambushes and roadblocks, which he called "a most unpleasant form of warfare".[40] This was followed by a short period in Silesia to deal with tensions between the Polish and German populations.[41]
On his return to Britain, Horrocks took up the modern pentathlon. He competed successfully in army tournaments, and was picked for the British Olympic team for the 1924 Paris Olympics,[42] where he finished 19th out of 38.[43] Horrocks spent the remainder of the inter-war years in postings that included adjutant for the 9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment of the Territorial Army (1926–1930);[44] student at the Staff College, Camberley (1931–32);[45] Staff Captain at the War Office (1934–36);[46] brigade major with the 5th Infantry Brigade (1936–38);[47] and instructor at the Staff College.[48] The Territorial Army posting, which Horrocks considered to be among his happiest periods, provided experience in dealing with citizen soldiers, "those truly remarkable people, the British territorials", which would prove highly valuable during the Second World War.[49] He received a brevet majority in 1935, and was promoted to substantive major in 1936, and brevet lieutenant colonel in 1937.[50]
In 1928, Horrocks married Nancy Kitchin, daughter of an architect for the Local Government Board. They had one child, a daughter named Gillian, who drowned in 1979 while swimming in the River Thames,[51] with "the shock and loss" being "almost insupportable".[52]
Second World War
Belgium and France
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Horrocks was working as an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, where he had taught since 1938.
Home service
On Horrocks' return to Britain, he was given command of
In March 1942, Horrocks was given command of the newly formed 9th Armoured Division and gained the temporary rank of major-general on 27 June.[61] Horrocks, an infantry soldier with no experience in dealing with cavalry, was an unusual choice for commander of an armoured division.[62] He trained the division hard, organising exercises to improve the effectiveness of his troops, and to familiarise himself with armoured warfare.[63] Despite never having commanded a division in battle, he was further promoted to acting lieutenant-general and sent to Egypt to command the Eighth Army's XIII Corps, under Montgomery.[64] General Sir Harold Alexander and Lieutenant-General Montgomery had decided to make a "clean sweep" when replacing the dismissed General Sir Claude Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) Middle East and Eighth Army commander respectively. Officers perceived to have failed under the old regime were removed, and Montgomery's favoured commanders were brought in. Among these was Horrocks, as Montgomery later explained:
I decided to ask Alexander to get General Horrocks flown out from England at once to command the 13 Corps. Horrocks had been in my 3rd Division as a battalion commander; I had got him a brigade and then a division in my corps in England; I now wanted him to have a corps in my Army. I knew I could not have a better man and so it turned out; he was exactly what was wanted for the job which lay ahead.[65]
North Africa
On arriving in North Africa, Horrocks' corps was ordered to defend the
Horrocks was offered the command of X Corps, an armoured corps, in the planned Alamein battle. He refused it, believing that Major-General Herbert Lumsden, a cavalry officer, would be more suited to the role.[72] Instead he retained command of XIII Corps, and was given the task of making a feint to the south to deceive Axis forces, while the main thrust was made by XXX Corps and X Corps to the north. Montgomery told Horrocks that he was not to incur tank losses, so XIII Corps' offensive operations were limited to raids.[73]
In the aftermath of the landmark British victory that followed, Horrocks' corps was assigned to the reserve and was reduced in size while the rest of the Eighth Army pursued the retreating Axis forces, "while poor old 13 Corps became the 8th Army's Mrs. Mopp, left behind with the unpleasant task of clearing up the battlefield of Alamein".[74] At one point the only formation under his command was a salvage unit clearing the wreckage of the battlefield, which he visited daily.[75] In December, he relinquished command of XIII Corps to Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey and took over command of X Corps, the lead corps in the advance of the Eighth Army, after Lumsden's dismissal for his perceived poor performance during the pursuit.[76] Horrocks was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 31 December 1942 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East".[77][78]
Following the fall of Tripoli in January 1943, the remaining Axis forces retreated to defensive positions in Southern Tunisia, in front of the Mareth Line built by France before the war. Here in March, Horrocks carried out one of his most successful actions. His corps, composed of the 1st Armoured Division, a Free French brigade and the attached New Zealand Corps (which included the 2nd New Zealand Division and the British 8th Armoured Brigade), was ordered to attack as part of Operation Supercharge II after XXX Corps failed to breach the line.[79] He carried out a flanking manoeuvre through a pass judged by the Germans to be impenetrable, rendering the Mareth position untenable and forcing the Axis into another retreat. Three Italian divisions were destroyed, and the German 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions and the 164th Division were heavily depleted.[80]
Horrocks continued to command X Corps in the following weeks before being transferred to the First Army to take over IX Corps after its previous commander, Lieutenant-General John Crocker, was wounded in a training accident. Also transferred with him from the Eighth Army to the First Army were the 7th Armoured and 4th Indian Divisions and the 201st Guards Brigade, all highly experienced veterans of the desert.[81] He led this corps in the final Allied offensive in Tunisia during April and May 1943, capturing Tunis and accepting the surrender of the remnants of Rommel's Army Group Africa.[82] He was mentioned in despatches on 24 June,[2] and for his service in Tunisia, was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 5 August.[83] He was also given the rank of temporary lieutenant-general and war substantive major-general.[84]
In June 1943, after returning to command of X Corps, Horrocks sustained serious injuries during an air raid at
Northwest Europe
It was a year before Horrocks recovered sufficiently to tell
Operation Market Garden
In September, Montgomery, now a field marshal, made his ambitious thrust across the Rhine and into the German industrial heartland, codenamed Operation Market Garden, a priority for 21st Army Group. XXX Corps under Horrocks was to lead the ground assault, passing along a corridor held by airborne forces to link up with the British 1st Airborne Division in Arnhem within four days.[99] In any event XXX Corps never arrived and although 1st Airborne clung on to their tenuous position for a further five days, by 21 September almost three-quarters of the division was destroyed or captured.[100]
Postwar analyses have been divided, some stressing a perceived lack of urgency on the part of Horrocks' men, while others note that German defences in the area were severely underestimated by First Allied Airborne Army intelligence.[101] Particularly important was the failure to identify the remnants of two SS Panzer divisions, which after Normandy had been sent to the Arnhem area for rest and refitting; intelligence had stated that only "a few infantry units and between 50 and 100 tanks" were in the Netherlands.[102] However, Ultra reports revealed the movement of the 9th SS and 10th SS Panzer Divisions to Nijmegen and Arnhem, creating enough concern for Eisenhower to send his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith, to raise the issue with Montgomery on 10 September. Montgomery dismissed Smith's concerns and refused to alter the plans for the landing of 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem.[103] Counter-attacks by Army Group B under Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model kept Horrocks' units on the defensive, and delayed their advance by forcing the British to halt and secure their flank. The terrain over which Horrocks' men had to move was also unsuitable, restricting the vanguard (Major-General Allan Adair's Guards Armoured Division) to a single narrow raised highway through flat or flooded countryside.[104] The bridge at Nijmegen, just 8 miles (13 km) from Arnhem, was not captured by the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment on the first day as planned, and XXX Corps had to assist in its capture on their arrival in Nijmegen two days later, causing a further delay of 36 hours.[105] Horrocks was not personally blamed for the operation's failure although he himself writes in his autobiography that "If we were slow then the fault was mine because I was the commander", further stating that "the sense of desperate urgency was there all right. There could be no doubt about that, and it was not for want of trying that we failed to arrive in time. I don't believe that any troops in the world could possibly have fought better than the Guards [Armoured Division] and the 82nd U.S. Airborne Division when they captured the bridges at Nijmegen. But, after all we were cut off three times, and it is difficult to fight with one hand tied behind you."[106]
"It is always easy to be wise after the event but, knowing what I do now, I think it would have been better to have committed the 43rd Division on a different axis. Instead of passing them through the Guards on the 22nd, I should have ordered General Thomas [GOC 43rd Division] to carry out a left hook across the lower Rhine much farther to the west and so attack the Germans, who were engaged with the 1st Airborne Division, from behind. This might well have been successful but even then I must emphasise that we should only have been able to establish a bridgehead position on the north bank of the lower Rhine. We could not have advanced any farther as envisaged in our original orders. The failure at Arnhem was primarily due to the astonishing recovery made by the German forces after their crippling defeat in Normandy."[107]
"Even if the 2nd German S.S. Panzer Corps had not been in a position to intervene so rapidly, and if we had succeeded in getting right through to the Zuider Zee, could we have kept our long lines of communication open? I very much doubt it. In which case instead of 30 Corps fighting to relieve the 1st British Airborne Division, it would have been a case of the remainder of the 2nd Army struggling desperately to relieve 30 Corps cut off by the Germans north of Arnhem. Maybe in the long run we were lucky."[107]
During the operation and for several weeks after the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, commanded by Brigadier General James M. Gavin, came under Horrocks' command, and Gavin, impressed by Horrocks, later wrote of him:
He was truly a unique general officer and his qualities of leadership were greater than any I have ever seen. In lecturing at the American service school I stated frequently that General Horrocks was the finest general officer I met during the war, and the finest corps commander.[108]
— James Gavin
In the aftermath of the failed operation, XXX Corps, which also had the U.S. 84th Infantry Division under command in its first battle, took its first German town, Geilenkirchen, as part of Operation Clipper.[109]
During the Battle of the Bulge, Horrocks was temporarily relieved of his command of XXX Corps by Field Marshal Montgomery and sent back to Britain to rest. Montgomery had taken this move because Horrocks had become "nervy and difficult with his staff" and had "attempted to act foolishly" with XXX Corps.[110] The corps was temporarily commanded by Major-General Ivor Thomas of the 43rd Division.
In early 1945, XXX Corps, now transferred from Dempsey's British Second Army to
Aided by Lieutenant-General
Horrocks received two further mentions in despatches for his service in north-west Europe on 22 March
On 12 April 1945, Horrocks met with two German officers just outside the town of Winsen during a ceasefire. A document setting out the terms of a no-fire zone around the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was typed out and signed by both parties. On the day the camp was liberated by the British Army (15 April 1945), Horrocks organised the rescue of the thousands of inmates by rounding up all the food stores, water trucks and army medical services he could get hold of quickly.[119]
Post-war career
Horrocks continued to serve in the armed forces after the war, initially as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command,
In 1949 he was appointed
Horrocks became interested in writing, and submitted articles about military matters to newspapers and magazines including the Picture Post and The Sunday Times. This led to a short but successful career as the presenter of a series of television programmes, British Castles (1962), Men in Battle and Epic Battle, produced by Huw Wheldon. In these, Horrocks lectured on great historical battles, "highlighting excitement and interest" to allow the programmes to appeal to the widest possible audience.[131] He was interviewed extensively for the Thames Television series, The World at War, and, to his embarrassment, appeared on the cover of the BBC's Radio Times magazine.[132]
After his television career ended, Horrocks served on the
In 1968 Horrocks collaborated with J & L Randall as editor of the board game Combat, made by the Merit company. Horrocks' portrait and signature appear on the box and his introduction to the game states: "In war no two battles are ever the same because the terrain is always different and it is this, more than anything else, which influences the composition of the different armies and the tactics employed by the rival Commanders".
His autobiography, A Full Life, was published in 1960, and he co-authored Corps Commander, an account of his battles in north-west Europe, published in 1977.
Horrocks acted as a military consultant for the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far, based on Operation Market Garden.[134] He was also a character in the film, played by Edward Fox. Fox later commented:
I enjoyed all of the films but A Bridge Too Far is the one I enjoyed the most because of the character I had to play, Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks. Brian was alive then and I knew him well – we were friends until his death. He was a very particular type of general and it was important that I play the role correctly.[135]
— Edward Fox
Horrocks died on 4 January 1985, "at the age of 89 – after having lived a very full life indeed".
His body was cremated but his cremated remains were left at the
Notes
- Robert Smith Surtees' comic equestrian character.[1]
References
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- ^ Warner 1984, p. 142.
- ^ Mead 2007, p. 265.
- ^ "No. 35840". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1942. p. 5665.
- ^ "Documents online – Family History: Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)– Image details – Horrocks, Brian Gwynne – Distinguished Service Order" (fee required to view full citation). The National Archives. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
- ^ Warner 1984, p. 92.
- ^ Warner 1984, p. 93.
- ^ Horrocks 1960, p. 166.
- ^ Warner 1984, pp. 97–98.
- ^ "No. 36120". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 August 1943. p. 3521.
- ^ "No. 36153". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 August 1943. p. 3877.
- ^ Warner 1984, p. 99.
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- ^ Doherty, p. 7
- ^ Horrocks 1960, p. 176.
- ^ Alanbrooke. War Diaries, p. 555.
- ^ "No. 36769". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 October 1944. p. 4963.
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 160.
- ^ Warner. Horrocks, p. 110.
- ^ a b French. Raising Churchill's Army, p. 119.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, p. 53.
- ^ Horrocks. A Full Life, p. 205.
- ^ Warner. Horrocks, p. 111.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, p. 58.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, pp. 157–161.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, p. 87.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, pp. 151–152.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, pp. 87–88.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Harclerode 2005, p. 460.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, p. 114.
- ^ Neillands. The Battle for the Rhine, p. 106.
- ^ Horrocks 1960, p. 230−231.
- ^ a b Horrocks 1960, p. 231.
- ^ Warner. Horrocks. p. 179.
- ^ a b c d Mead. Churchill's Lions, p. 214.
- ^ Hamilton, Nigel (1986). Monty: The Final Years of the Field Marshall 1944–1976. McGraw-Hill Book Company. pp. 255–256.
- 17 pounder guns, and 188 machine guns (French, p. 268).
- ^ a b Bidwell & Graham. Fire-Power – The British Army Weapons & Theories of War 1904–1945, p. 290.
- ^ Horrocks. Corps Commander, p. 184.
- ^ Neillands. The Desert Rats, pp. 135–136.
- ^ Horrocks 1960, p. 265.
- ^ "No. 37161". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 July 1945. p. 3489.
- ^ "No. 37853". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 January 1947. p. 324.
"Documents online – Family History: Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army) – Image details – Horrocks, Brian – Legion of Honour (Commandeur)" (fee required to view full citation). The National Archives. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
"No. 37761". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 October 1946. p. 5143.
"No. 36569". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 June 1944. p. 2913. - ^ "Inventory: Group of orders and medals awarded to Lt Gen Sir Brian Horrocks". National Army Museum. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- ISBN 978-1511541701.
- ^ Lamb, Brian Horrocks, ODNB
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"No. 40207". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1954. pp. 3601–4199. - ^ "No. 38516". The London Gazette. 18 January 1949. p. 313.
- ^ "No. 39616". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 August 1952. pp. 4197–4199.
- ^ Warner 1984, p. 143.
- ^ Warner 1984, p. 144.
- ^ "No. 43030". The London Gazette. 18 June 1963. p. 5181.
- ^ "Lieut-Gen Sir Brian Horrocks". Obituaries. The Times. London. 9 January 1985. col H, p. 12.
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- ^ Warner 1984, pp. 153–154.
- Internet Movie Database. Archived from the originalon 23 January 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
- ^ "A Bridge Too Far (1977)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
- ^ Delaney 2011, p. 57.
- ^ "Sir Brian Horrocks is dead at 89; British General in World War II". The New York Times. 9 January 1985. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ^ "Memorial service". Deaths. The Times. No. 62073. London. 27 February 1985. col F, p. 12.
- ^ Warner 1984, p. 178.
- ^ Capurro, Daniel (13 May 2022). "Peace at last for Lt Gen Brian Horrocks – the man who outsmarted Churchill and Rommel". The Telegraph.
Sources
- ISBN 0-297-60731-6.
- Delaney, Douglas E. (2011). Corps Commanders: Five British and Canadian Generals at War, 1939–45. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 9780774820905.
- Bidwell, Shelford; ISBN 1-84415-216-2.
- Doherty, Richard (2014). Victory in Italy: 15th Army Group's Final Campaign 1945. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-78346-298-8.
- French, David (2001). Raising Churchill's Army. Oxford: ISBN 978-0-19-924630-4.
- ISBN 1-55238-176-5.
- Horrocks, Sir Brian (1960). A Full Life. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-144-0.
- Horrocks, Sir Brian; Belfield, Eversley; ISBN 0-283-98320-5.
- Lamb, Richard (2008). "Brian Horrocks". . Retrieved 20 March 2008.
- Basil Liddell Hart (ed.). "U.S. Combat Studies Institute Battle Report: Alam Halfa". Archived from the originalon 21 October 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
- Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A Biographical Guide to the Key British Generals of World War II. Stroud: Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
- ISBN 9781844153305.
- ISBN 0-304-36736-2.
- Neillands, Robin (2005). The Desert Rats: 7th Armoured Division, 1940–1945. London: ISBN 1-84513-115-0.
- Shepperd, Alan (1991). ISBN 0-297-82066-4.
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnsley: ISBN 1-84415-049-6.
- Warner, Philip (1984). Horrocks: The General Who Led From the Front. London: ISBN 0-241-11312-1.
Further reading
- ISBN 9781851828654.
- Stewart, Adrian (2011). Six of Monty's Men. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. OCLC 679923542.
External links
- "No. 37779". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1946. pp. 5449–5464. Official despatch by Lieutenant-General Sir Kenneth Anderson, GOC First Army covering events in NW Africa, 8 November 1942 – 13 May 1943.
- Escape to Action, the 1960 US edition of Horrocks' autobiography, on the Internet Archive.
- Video of Horrocks taking the salute on 51st (Highland) Division on 17 May 1945 in Bremerhaven.
- British Army Officers 1939–1945
- Generals of World War II
- Brian Horrocks at Olympedia
- Brian Horrocks at IMDb