Lewis Lyne
Lewis Lyne | |
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Croix de Guerre (France) |
Early life and military career
Born on 21 August 1899 in
Lyne returned to England to attend the Staff College, Camberley, from 1935 to 1936, where his fellow students included Eric Bols,[6] Terence Airey,[7] Joseph Charles Haydon,[8] Geoffrey Bourne,[9] Walter Lentaigne,[10] Freddie de Guingand[11] and Charles Keightley,[12] along with both Henry Wells of the Australian Army and Rod Keller of the Canadian Army.[13][14] While there, on 16 October 1935, he was promoted to captain.[15] After graduating he became a staff officer at the War Office in 1938 until the outbreak of war the following year.[16] He was made a brevet major on 1 July 1938, a major on 1 August, and brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1939.[17]
Second World War
By the outbreak of the
Promoted to the acting rank of brigadier in March 1942 (and acting colonel on the same date, six months later temporary colonel and temporary brigadier),
Middle East and North Africa
The next few weeks for the 56th Division were hectic as it began to mobilise for service overseas, which was completed by late August. The division left England soon after, arriving in
Arriving there in late April, Lyne's brigade began to relieve elements of the veteran 2nd New Zealand Division, in contact with the enemy, in the mountains north of Enfidaville on the night of 26 April.[19] Two days later, the X Corps (which the 56th Division formed part) commander, Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks, ordered the brigade to seize Djebel Srafi and Djebel Terhouna. Although the attack began well, a counterattack on the first objective sent men of the 2/5th Queen's, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Whitfield (who would later be GOC 56th Division), back to their own start lines. However, the Tunisian Campaign itself was finished just over two weeks later, with most of the Allied strength being diverted to the British First Army, advancing on the city of Tunis from the west, soon falling to the Allies on 7 May, and the campaign officially ending on 13 May 1943, with some 238,000 Axis soldiers surrendering.[19]
Italy
With the campaign over, the division, now commanded by Major General
Over the next few days Lyne's brigade, holding a large sector of the front with too few troops, was reinforced with a company of Royal Engineers acting as infantry.[19] With the Germans, who had been concerned mainly with attacking the division's right – where there had emerged a large gap between the US and British forces – on the retreat from Salerno on 17 September, due to the situation turning in favour of the Allies, the brigade, along with the rest of the heavily battered 56th Division, spent the next few days in further fighting in an attempt to break through the mountain passes on the path to Naples. On 27 September Lyne's brigade was relieved by Brigadier "Bolo" Whistler's 131st Brigade.[19]
The capture of Naples followed days later, with Lieutenant General Richard McCreery's British X Corps (under which command the 56th Division was serving) advancing on the left of the US Fifth Army, reaching the defensive line on the Volturno river by 9 October.[19] The day after, the division's GOC, Major General Graham, was injured and Lyne, the most senior brigade commander, took temporary command of the division for the Volturno crossing. Although the other two X Corps divisions, the 7th Armoured and 46th, gained a foothold across the river, the 56th Division managed only to gain a weak foothold, which was not exploited.[19] The division had to use the US 3rd Division's crossing point. Around this time the 168th Brigade (which was detached from the division in April) also returned to the 56th Division. On 15 October Major General Gerald Templer arrived to take command of the division, and Lyne returned to the 169th Brigade.[23]
The division's next task was to assault Monte Camino, the last major feature before the Winter Line (or Gustav Line), which failed in mid-November with heavy losses, mainly to the 201st Guards Brigade, with Lyne himself being wounded on 13 November.[19] Returning by early December, the division, with Lyne's brigade playing a major role, was supported by a very heavy artillery barrage and took part in the second attempt to capture Monte Camino, which was taken and the Germans finally thrown off the mountain. On 8 January 1944, however, Lyne returned to hospital and so missed the division's crossing of the Garigliano river during the first Battle of Monte Cassino.[24] He returned again to the brigade on 21 January, as it captured the first peaks of the Aurunci Mountains.[24]
After holding its positions for the next few weeks, the 56th Division was ordered to the Anzio beachhead in early February, where the Allied forces there were in serious trouble.[24]
Northwest Europe
In early March the heavily battered 56th Division was relieved by the
The 59th Division landed in Normandy in late June 1944, almost three weeks after the
The division soon moved back on 11 July to XII Corps, two days later transferring to Lieutenant General
The end of the Normandy Campaign also saw the disbandment of the 59th Division. By this stage of the war, Britain had reached the limits of its manpower, replacements for casualties were severely lacking and some units were broken up and their men posted to other units to fill gaps.[24] With Lyne's 59th Division being the most junior British division in France, it was broken up, although not as a reflection of its performance, with Montgomery, the army group commander, and Dempsey, the army commander, both being highly impressed with the division.[24] The division HQ remained in suspended animation until October and Lyne temporarily commanded the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division in place of the GOC, Major General Douglas Graham, who had been Lyne's superior as GOC 56th Division in Italy.[27] Graham returned in late November, only for the 50th Division to suffer the same fate as the 59th Division, again due to manpower shortages, although the division was reduced to a training reserve formation.[27]
On 22 November Lyne was, unusually for an infantryman, selected to become GOC of the veteran 7th Armoured Division, in place of Major General
The division's next assignment was the crossing of the River Rhine into Germany, codenamed Operation Plunder, although the division did not take part in the initial stages, crossing the river on 27 March, three days after the operation began, spearheaded by the 11th Hussars.[27] Two days later Lyne's rank of major general was made temporary.[28] The division, against token resistance, then raced across Germany, capturing thousands of German troops along the way, by 8 April reaching the outskirts of the city of Bremen, which fell to the 3rd Division, and crossed the River Weser a week later. The end of the war in Europe arrived soon after.[27] Lyne took part in the Victory Parade in Berlin on 21 July 1945.[1] He was mentioned in despatches on 7 August for his services in Northwest Europe.[29]
Postwar
Lyne became
References
- ^ a b c d e f Smart, p. 198
- ^ "No. 31324". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 May 1919. p. 5603.
- ^ a b c d e Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ "No. 32422". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 August 1921. p. 6452.
- ^ "Lancashire Fusiliers". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 3 January 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Smart 2005, p. 36.
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 3.
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 147.
- ^ "Bourne, Geoffrey Kemp". Liddell Hart Centre for Military archives. Archived from the original on 31 July 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 187.
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 80.
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 175.
- ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- ^ "Major-General R.F.L. Keller". Canada in the Second World War. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
- ^ "No. 34210". The London Gazette. 22 October 1935. p. 6633.
- ^ a b c d "British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ "No. 34642". The London Gazette. 4 July 1939. p. 4566.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mead, p. 268
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mead, p. 269
- ^ "No. 36160". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 September 1943. p. 3965.
- ^ "No. 31324". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 August 1943. p. 3525.
- ^ "No. 36138". The London Gazette. 17 August 1943. p. 3721.
- ^ Heathcote, p. 275
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mead, p. 270
- ^ "No. 36450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 March 1944. p. 1531.
- ^ Generals.dk
- ^ a b c d e f g Mead, p. 271
- ^ "No. 37010". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 March 1945. p. 1767.
- ^ "No. 37213". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 August 1945. p. 4044.
Bibliography
- Converse, Alan (2011). Armies of Empire: The 9th Australian and 50th British Divisions in Battle 1939–1945. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521194808.
- Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals 1736–1997. Barnsley (UK): Pen & Sword. ISBN 0-85052-696-5.
- 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.
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.