Colin Gubbins
Sir Colin McVean Gubbins | |
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Gubbins was also responsible for setting up the secret Auxiliary Units, a commando force based around the Home Guard, to operate on the flanks and to the rear of German lines if the United Kingdom were invaded during Operation Sea Lion, Germany's planned invasion.
Early life
Gubbins was born in
Military career
First World War
Gubbins was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1914. On the outbreak of war he was visiting the German city of Heidelberg in order to improve his German language skills and had to make a perilous journey back to Britain via Belgium, arriving in Dover the day before Britain entered the conflict. Gubbins served as a battery officer on the Western Front – initially with the 126th Battery as part of the British Army's 3rd Corps. He first saw action on 22 May 1915 in the Second Battle of Ypres and on 9 June was promoted to lieutenant.
In July 1916 he participated in the Battle of the Somme and received the Military Cross, the citation for which, appearing in The London Gazette in September 1916, reads as follows:
For conspicuous gallantry. When one of his guns and its detachment were blown up by a heavy shell, he organised a rescue party and personally helped to dig out the wounded while shells were falling all round.[3]
On 7 October he was wounded in the neck by a gunshot but recovered fully. In the spring of 1917 Gubbins participated in the
Interwar period
In 1919 he joined the staff of General
On 2 December 1919 Gubbins was posted to the 47th Battery of the 5th Division in Kildare during the Irish War of Independence. He served as a military intelligence officer and in 1920 attended a three-day course in guerrilla warfare organized by the HQ 5th Division. Gubbins characterised his service in the conflict as "being shot at from behind hedges by men in trilbys and mackintoshes and not allowed to shoot back".[8]
Promoted to
His experiences in the Russian Civil War and the Irish War of Independence stimulated his lifelong interest in irregular warfare. One of the lessons drawn from the latter war was the importance of captured enemy documents which had provided the security forces with a wealth of invaluable intelligence on the IRA.[10][11][12] Upon later establishing SOE, one of the key security features introduced was "Commit as little as possible to writing. Memorise if you can. If you must carry documents, select what you must carry. Burn all secret waste and carbons".[13]
After a period with signals intelligence at GHQ India, Gubbins graduated from the Staff College at Quetta in 1928, and in 1931 was appointed GSO3 in the Russian section of the War Office. Having been promoted to brevet major, in 1935 he joined MT1, the policy-making branch of the Military Training Directorate.
In October 1938, in the aftermath of the
Second World War
When British forces were mobilized in August 1939, Gubbins was appointed Chief of Staff to the military mission to
In October 1939, following his return to Britain, Gubbins was sent to
Although he was recommended for command of a division by Lieutenant General Claude Auchinleck, the commander of all troops in the Norwegian campaign,[16] on his return to Britain he nevertheless rejoined MI(R) and was directed by General Headquarters Home Forces to form the secret Auxiliary Units, a commando force based around the Home Guard together with regular army sabotage teams, to operate on the flanks and to the rear of German lines if Britain were ever invaded.[17]
In November 1940 Gubbins became acting Brigadier and, at the request of Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was seconded to the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which had recently been established to "coordinate all action by way of sabotage and subversion against the enemy overseas". Besides maintaining his existing connections with the Poles and Czechs, Gubbins was given three tasks: to set up training facilities; to devise operating procedures acceptable to the Admiralty and Air Ministry; and to establish close working relations with the Joint Planning Staff.
Despite many frustrations and disappointments, mainly due to shortage of aircraft, he persevered with training organizers and dispatching them into the field. The first liaison flight to Poland took place in February 1941, and during 1942 and 1943 European resistance movements aided by SOE scored notable successes, including a raid on a
In September 1943
As head of SOE, Gubbins co-ordinated the activities of resistance movements worldwide. Gubbins' role involved consultation at the highest level with the Foreign Office, the Chiefs of Staff, representatives of the resistance organizations, governments-in-exile, and other Allied agencies including particularly the US
Later life
When SOE was shut down in 1946 the War Office could offer Gubbins no suitable position, and when he retired from the army he became the managing director of a carpet and textile manufacturer. He remained in touch with people in many of the countries he had helped to liberate, and was invited by
Personal life
Gubbins's first marriage was to Norah Creina (b. 1894) on 22 October 1919. The couple had two sons, the elder, Michael, served in the SOE and was killed at
Death
A shooter and fisherman, Gubbins spent his last years at his home in the
Testimonials
His star
Described by Tommy [Marks' closest friend] as 'a real Highland toughie, bloody brilliant, should be the next CD', he was short enough to make me feel average, with a moustache which was as clipped as his delivery and eyes which didn't mirror his soul or any other such trivia. The general's eyes reflected the crossed swords on his shoulders, warning all comers not to cross them with him. It was a shock to realize they were focused on me.
In the book Virtual History (1997),
There is a very detailed account of Gubbins' wartime career in Churchill's Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare, by Giles Milton (John Murray, 2016)
See also
References
- ^ Ashby, Bill. "Major General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins – Founder & First Commander". British Resistance Archive. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
- ^ Gubbins and SOE by Peter Wilkinson and Joan Brightly 1993
- ^ "No. 29760". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 September 1916. p. 9275.
- ^ Gubbins and SOE
- ^ Gubbins Private Papers
- ^ 29 Brigade War Diary
- ^ Stephen Dorril (2002), MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, Touchstone, New York City. Pages 19-20.
- ^ Gubbins Private Papers
- ^ Stephen Dorril (2002), MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, Touchstone, New York City. Pages 19-20.
- ^ British Voices from the Irish War of Independence by William Sheehan p134
- ^ Michael Collins Intelligence War by Michael T Foy p196
- ^ A Winter's Tale by Sir Ormonde Winter p295
- ^ The World War 2 SOE Training Manual p39
- ^ "Kent Auxiliary Units". Archived from the original on 8 August 2014.
- ^ Wilkinson and Astley (2010), pp.40–46
- ^ Wilkinson and Astley (2010), pp.67, 68
- ISBN 978-1-47383-377-7.
- ^ "Special Forces Club". Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
- ^ Obituary in Aftenposten 22 August 2007 No. 385
Sources
- "Oxford DNB article: Gubbins, Sir Colin McVean". ODNB. Oxford University Press. 2004.
- Profile
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-1-444-79895-1
- Atkin, Malcolm (2015). Fighting Nazi Occupation: British Resistance 1939 – 1945. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-47383-377-7.
- ISBN 0-85052-556-X.
- A. R. B. Linderman: Rediscovering irregular warfare. Colin Gubbins and the origins of Britain's Special Operations Executive, Norman, OK (University of Oklahoma Press) 2015. ISBN 978-0-8061-5167-0
- Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1-84415-049-6.