Ouvry Lindfield Roberts

Sir Ouvry Roberts
Roberts greeting former Indian Army prisoners of war in Malaya, 1945.
Born	(1898-04-03)3 April 1898
Died	16 March 1986(1986-03-16) (aged 87)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1917–1955
Rank	General
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands held	20th Indian Infantry Brigade 16th Infantry Brigade 23rd Indian Infantry Division XXXIV Indian Corps Northern Ireland District Southern Command
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order

General Sir Ouvry Lindfield Roberts GCB KBE DSO (3 April 1898 – 16 March 1986) was a senior officer of the British Army and the British Indian Army during World War I and World War II.

Military career

Educated at Cheltenham College, the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and King's College, Cambridge. Ouvry Roberts was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 6 June 1917.^[1]

He served on the North West Frontier of India during the Third Afghan War in 1919 and in Waziristan 1919-21.^[2]

He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University in 1925, and for the Free Foresters in 1926.^[3]

He served as Deputy Director of Military Operations and Intelligence in India from 17 September 1939 to 28 January 1941.^[1][2]

In January 1941 Roberts was appointed GSO1 (Chief Staff Officer) of 10th Indian Infantry Division which was then forming at Ahmednagar in India. Three months later the division was ordered to Iraq.^[4]

The RAF training base at Habbaniya, defended by 1,200 locally recruited Assyrians and Kurds and some armoured cars, was threatened by an Iraqi force in late April and three companies from 1st battalion Kings Own Royal Regiment Lancaster were sent by air to reinforce the base. Roberts was sent to Habbaniya on 1 May to review the situation^[5] and assumed the de facto command of the land operations at RAF Habbaniya after the departure of Air Vice-Marshal H.G. ('Reggie') Smart who had been injured in a car accident.^[6] Roberts was awarded the DSO for commanding the ground forces defending RAF Habbaniya.^[7]

He commanded what became known as the "Habbaniya Brigade" and, on 19 May 1941, participated in the successful capture of Fallujah.^[8] The "Habbaniya Brigade" was formed in the week following the end of the Iraqi siege of the British garrison at Habbaniya. Roberts formed the brigade by grouping the infantry reinforcements from Basra (2/4 Gurkha) and from Kingcol (1 Essex).^[9] Roberts returned to 10th Indian Division after completing what his divisional commander, Major-General William Slim, later described as "one of the best single-handed jobs any officer of his then rank had performed in the war".^[10]

As chief staff officer Roberts played an important role in 10th Indian Division's involvement in the Euphrates expedition during the Syria-Lebanon Campaign in July 1941 and the Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran a month later, earning him promotion to Commanding Officer of the division's 20th Indian Infantry Brigade in Iraq in January 1942.^[5]

From 1 July 1942 until 24 January 1943 ^[5] Roberts was the Commanding Officer of 16th Infantry Brigade in Ceylon.^[1] As the threat of a Japanese invasion of Ceylon receded, 16th Infantry Brigade was redeployed in July 1943 while Roberts was appointed chief staff officer (Brigadier General Staff) of IV Corps at Imphal commanded by Lieutenant-General Geoffrey Scoones^[1][11] and which formed part of Bill Slim's Fourteenth Army.^[2]

On 10 August 1943 Roberts was promoted to acting major-general and appointed General Officer Commanding 23rd Indian Infantry Division, part of IV Corps. The division's units were heavily involved in the decisive Battle of Imphal and the subsequent Allied advance into Burma. In August 1944 the division was withdrawn to India.^[12]

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the London Gazette 8 February 1945.^[2] He was promoted substantive Major-General on 17 February 1945 with seniority from 5 June 1944.^[2]

On 12 March 1945 Roberts was promoted acting lieutenant-general and appointed General Officer Commanding XXXIV Indian Corps which was tasked with Operation Roger, an amphibious assault on the Kra Peninsula in Burma. Events moved more rapidly than anticipated and Roger was canceled. The corps was then tasked with Operation Zipper, an amphibious landing on the coast of Malaya. In the event, the landings, which took place in September 1945, were unopposed, taking place days after the Japanese surrender.^[1][2][13]

After the War Roberts was appointed as Vice Adjutant-General at the War Office in 1945.^[1] He became General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland District in 1948 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Command in 1949.^[1] He became Quartermaster-General to the Forces in 1952 and retired in 1955,^[1] widely regarded as one of the high achievers of the Second World War.^[13]

He was Aide-de-Camp General to the Queen from 1952 to 1955.^[1] He was Colonel Commandant the Royal Engineers from 1952 to 1962.^[1]

Retirement

In retirement he was a Director of Grosvenor Laing and then President of Grosvenor Laing from 1955 to 1960.^[1]

See also

• Anglo-Iraqi War
• Burma Campaign

References

• Lyman, Robert (2006). Iraq 1941: The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad. Campaign Series. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-991-6. 
• 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. 
• Slim, William (1956). Defeat Into Victory. London: Cassell. OCLC 253543428. 
• Wavell, Archibald (1946). Despatch on Operations in Iraq, East Syria and Iran from 10th April, 1941 to 12th January, 1942. London: War Office.  in The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37685. pp. 4093–4102. 13 August 1946. Retrieved 14 October 2009.

Footnotes