Mike Osborn

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Not to be confused with Mike Osborne or Mike Osburn.

Mike Osborn
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
  • Military Cross

    • Colonel Michael Ashby Chadwick Osborn

    East
    African Campaigns.

    Early life

    Osborn, was born in

    First World War.[2] Following the death of his father in his infancy, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and his family would move to Switzerland. Here he would attend Chillon College in Montreux, and they would stay there until 1929, after which they moved back to Kent in the United Kingdom, where he would be educated at Cranbrook School
    .

    Military career

    Subsequent to his years in school, Osborn entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into the West Yorkshire Regiment and was soon posted to the 1st Battalion in India.

    Second World War

    In 1940 and 1941, after a spell in

    East African Campaign.[3] It is here that he commanded the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment. He was awarded the MC in Keren for successfully capturing the Dologorodoc Fort, a former Italian stronghold. Weeks later, he would be awarded a DSO for repelling a heavy Italian offensive at Tobruk
    , where he sustained a bullet wound to the head.

    After recovering from his wound, he was posted to Sicily where he would plan the strategic allied invasion. Here, his jeep would be hit by a shell killing his driver and wounding Osborn.

    After recovering in London, he was posted to the War Office in 1943, it is here that he would plan the forthcoming D-Day invasion. Later in April 1944 he joined the staff of the 2nd British Army Headquarters, where he would serve under the command of Selwyn Lloyd. Later this year, he would land in Normandy with the 2nd British Army.

    By 1945, the allied forces were rapidly advancing into Germany, under the command of

    Belsen
    .

    By May 1945, Osborn had learned that an individual bearing a stark resemblance to

    Lieutenant-Colonel "Spud" Murphy. Osborn and Murphy, would take Himmler to Army HQ, where Himmler is believed to have committed suicide by the means of hiding a potassium cyanide
    capsule under his tongue and subsequently ingesting it before interrogation could begin.

    He was then appointed second in command of the 1st Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment in

    Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre. Following victory in the Far East he commanded the 2nd Battalion in Indonesia and Malaya
    .

    Malayan Emergency

    After serving at posts in Greece and Vienna, he would also play a significant role in the Malayan Emergency commanding the 1st Battalion, The Federation Regiment in operations across Malaya in 1958, aiding the British effort to prevent the rise of communism in the area. Come the end of his service in Malaya, he would be awarded the PJK Meritorious Service medal.[4]

    Later career

    Several years later, in 1961 Osborn attended the

    Shah of Iran
    .

    Later life

    After 27 years of service, Osborn was posted to Bielefeld in the British occupation zone. After the end of his post in Germany, Osborn retired to develop a villa rental business on the island of Skiathos in Greece with his wife Anita.[5]

    In 1978, Mike Osborn and his wife returned to the United Kingdom, where they settled in Shaftesbury, Dorset.[citation needed]

    Mike Osborn died on 15 January 2010.[6] He is survived by his daughter, Veronica. His son, Simon, died in late 2010, and his wife, Anita, died in April 2019.

    References

    1. ^ Janq Designs. "Special Operations.Com". Special Operations.Com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
    2. ^ "Family Notices". 24 May 1917. p. 6 – via Trove.
    3. ^ "Info". Google (in Kinyarwanda). Retrieved 12 July 2020.
    4. ^ "Michael Osborn - Obituaries - Yorkshire Post". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
    5. ^ Bryanston School – Autumn Term 1971, Autumn 1971, p. 23
    6. ^ "Military Obituaries – Colonel Mike Osborn". The Daily Telegraph. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2020.

    External links

    Media related to Mike Osborn at Wikimedia Commons

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