Ridley Pakenham-Walsh
Ridley Pakenham-Walsh | |
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| Born | 29 April 1888 Mentioned in Despatches |
Military career
After attending the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Pakenham-Walsh was commissioned into the Royal Engineers (RE) in December 1908.[1][3][4] He became an instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Australia, in 1914.[3]
Pakenham-Walsh served in
3rd Division in the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive, with the rank of acting Lieutenant-Colonel.[1][8][9]
After the war he became British Representative at the International Commission in
General Officer Commanding Chatham Area, but left these roles on the outbreak of World War II when he was appointed as Engineer-in-Chief for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).[1][3][10] During the 'Phoney War' his office's work involved designing reinforced concrete defences around Lille.[11]
When the Phoney War ended with the
Lines of Communication into improvised infantry battalions to assist the defence. By 26 May the BEF was cut off and the decision had been made to evacuate it through Dunkirk. The commander of III Corps, Lt-Gen Sir Ronald Adam, was sent to command the British troops forming the perimeter covering the port and to coordinate the evacuation (Operation Dynamo) with the naval authorities, with Pakenham-Walsh to assist him.[12][13]
After the Dunkirk evacuation he was sent as Head of Mission to the United States, then became GOC
Northern Ireland District in 1940–41. He was appointed GOC of IX Corps in 1941 and commander of Salisbury Plain District in 1941–3.[1][3] Early in 1943 he was appointed Controller-General Army Provision, Eastern Group, in charge of procuring all kinds of military stores from Commonwealth and Allied sources east of Suez, and supplying them to the forces operating in that theatre.[1][3][14] He retired in 1946.[2][3]
After retirement he was commissioned by the
Institution of Royal Engineers to write the history of the Royal Engineers from 1938 to 1948, covering the whole of World War II. Hampered by arthritis this took him almost 10 years, but the two volumes were published in 1958.[15]
Pakenham-Walsh's name appears on a war memorial in Rathmichael Church in Shankill, County Dublin.[16]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Pakenham-Walsh, Vol IX, Appendix A.
- ^ a b c d Smart, pp. 244−5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ "No. 28218". The London Gazette. 26 January 1909. p. 662.
- ^ London Gazette, 12 January 1915.
- ^ Edinburgh Gazette, 21 March 1917.
- ^ "No. 13186". The Edinburgh Gazette. 2 January 1918. p. 49.
- ^ Becke, pp. 49–55.
- ^ London Gazette, 22 July 1918.
- ^ Pakenham-Walsh, Vol VIII, pp. 151, 162–3.
- ^ Pakenham-Walsh, Vol VIII, pp. 10–1, 23.
- ^ Ellis, pp. 65, 180.
- ^ Pakenham-Walsh, Vol VIII, pp. 30–4.
- ^ Pakenham-Walsh, Vol VIII, p. 179.
- ^ Gen E.L. Morris, 'Foreword', Pakenham-Walsh, Vols VIII & IX, p. iii.
- ^ Irish War Memorials
Bibliography
- Maj A.F. Becke, History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions, London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-38-X.
- Maj L.F. Ellis, History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940, London: HM Stationery Office, 1954/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, 978-1-85457-056-6.
- Maj-Gen R.P. Pakenham-Walsh, History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Vol VIII, 1938–1948: Campaigns in France and Belgium, 1939–40. Norway, Middle East, East Africa, Western Desert, North West Africa, and Activities in the U.K., Chatham: Institution of Royal Engineers, 1958.
- Maj-Gen R.P. Pakenham-Walsh, History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Vol IX, 1938–1948: Campaigns in Sicily and Italy: the War Against Japan: North-west Europe 1944º–45: Minor and Non-Operational Areas: Post-War 1945–48, Chatham: Institution of Royal Engineers, 1958.
- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. ISBN 1844150496.
External links
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