| Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey | |
|---|---|
| 15 December 1896 – 5 June 1969 | |
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| Nickname | "Lucky" or "Bimbo" |
| Place of birth | New Brighton, Wallasey, Cheshire |
| Place of death | Yattendon, Berkshire |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1915 - 1947 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | 5th Infantry Brigade (30 Jan 1934 - 23 Feb 1936) 1st Battalion, The Royal Berkshire Regiment (11 Feb 1938 - 19 Nov 1939) 13th Infantry Brigade (20 Nov 1939 - 18 Jul 1940) 46th (North Midland and West Riding) Infantry Division (15 Jun 1941 - 28 Oct 1941) 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division (29 Oct 1941 - 11 Dec 1942) (redesignated on 1 Nov 1941 as 42nd Armoured Division) XIII Corps (12 Dec 1942 - 24 Jan 1944) 2nd Army (26 Jan 1944 - 8 Aug 1945) 14th Army (9 Aug 1945 - 1945) Commander in Chief, Allied Land Forces, South East Asia (1945 - 1946) Commander in Chief, Middle East Land Forces (1946 - 1947) |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | GBE (2 Jan 1956) KBE (5 Jul 1945) KCB (29 Jun 1944 CB (14 Oct 1943) DSO (11 Jul 1940) MC (3 Jun 1919) LM (Commander) (12 April 1945)[1] DSM (US) (16 Jan 1948) Grand Officer of the Order of Léopold with Palm & Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm (Belgium) (16 Jan 1947) Knight Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau with Swords (Netherlands) (20 Jan 1947) |
| Other work | Aide de Camp General to the King (1946-1947) Colonel Commandant, Corps of Royal Military Police (13 Mar 1947-1957) Colonel, The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (22 Nov 1946 - 22 Nov 1956) Honorary Colonel, AAC, Special Air Service (Territorial Army) (29 Jan 1948-?) Colonel Commandant, Special Air Service (21 Feb 1951 - 1960) Deputy Lieutenant, Berkshire (24 Oct 1950-?) Commander in Chief (designate), UK Land Forces (1951-1956) Chairman, Racecourse Betting Control Board (1947 - 1951) Director of H. & G. Simonds (Chairman 1953-1963) Deputy Chairman, Courage, Barclay & Simonds Ltd {1961 - 1966) Chairman, Greene, King & Sons Ltd, 1955-... |
General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC (15 December 1896 - 5 June 1969) was commander of the British Second Army during the D-Day landings in World War II. He was a career soldier who made his reputation in active service.
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Family background
Miles Dempsey was a direct descendant of the O'Dempseys of Clanmalier, an aristocratic Gaelic family with a history traceable to a High King of Ireland in the second century A.D. A more recent ancestor of Miles Dempsey fled Ireland following late-seventeenth-century confiscations.
Dempsey's father was A.F. Dempsey of Hoylake, Cheshire. In 1948, he married Viola, the youngest daughter of Captain Percy O'Reilly of Colamber, County Westmeath, Ireland. They lived at "The Old Vicarage", Greenham, Newbury, Berkshire and later at "Coombe House", Yattendon, Berkshire. Dempsey was educated at Shrewsbury School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
World War I and inter-war years
After graduating from Sandhurst Military Academy in 1915, Dempsey joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He served on the Western Front in France during the First World War, where he was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
World War II
Dempsey remained in the army. By the start of World War II, he had reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel and commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade of the British Expeditionary Force in France. In common with other Allied units, his brigade was forced back to Dunkirk, where it provided part of the rear-guard for the evacuation. For his part in the evacuation, Dempsey was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
In December 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant-general and commanded XIII Corps in the Eighth Army during the North African Campaign. He subsequently helped to plan the invasion of Sicily and led the assault on Sicily in 1943. Dempsey later led the invasion of Italy across the Strait of Messina, in which his troops advanced more than 300 miles (480 km) to the north before linking up with U.S. troops at Salerno.
In North Africa, Sicily and Italy, Dempsey had gained a reputation for his expertise in combined operations. This prompted Bernard Montgomery, his commanding officer in North Africa and Sicily, to select him to command the Second Army in January 1944. The Second Army was the main British force (although it also included Canadian forces) involved in the D-Day landings, making successful assaults at Gold, Juno and Sword beaches.
The successful assaults were followed by an attritional battle during which the Anglo-Canadian forces were frustrated by determined German defence. This in its turn, however, forced the committal and wearing down of vital German units away from the eventual U.S. breakout. Second Army made a rapid advance across northern France into Belgium, liberating Brussels and Antwerp in September 1944.
The Rhine was crossed on March 23, 1945, and Dempsey was the first British Army commander to do so. On 7 April 1945, The Illustrated London News carried a full front page of a specially commissioned portrait painting of Dempsey by artist Arthur Pan.[2] In May, Dempsey's men captured Bremen, Hamburg and Kiel.
Miles Dempsey was considered to be a highly competent officer. He asserted a very effective control over Second Army without taking the limelight. This was despite the stalemate in Normandy and the failure to advance beyond Antwerp and thus ensure that German forces remained isolated.
Post-war
In 1946 he was appointed British Commander in Chief of Middle East Land Forces.
Dempsey retired from the British Army in July 1947 but held several honorary posts thereafter. He was also appointed to directorships of local breweries.
Miles Dempsey died in Yattendon, Berkshire in 1969 at the age of 72.
Tributes
After the war, Miles Dempsey was made an honorary citizen of the city of Caen in Normandy, France. Around 1990, a street in Caen (avenue Général Dempsey) was named after him [3], in a district close to the Mémorial pour la Paix museum, where many of the streets commemorate personalities linked with the Second World War. The street links the avenue Maréchal Montgomery to the avenue Amiral Mountbatten.
References
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37027, p. 1947, 1945-04-10.
- ^ "The Illustrated London News 1945", iln.org.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
- ^ Caen map, La Poste, 1993.
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