Henry Curtis (British Army officer)

Major-General Henry Osborne Curtis CB, DSO, MC, DL (18 November 1888 – 28 January 1964) was a British Army officer who saw service in both the First and the Second World Wars. During the latter, he commanded the 46th Infantry Division during the Battle of France in 1940, and later the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division during the Occupation of Iceland from 1940–1942.[1][4]

Henry Curtis
Birth name	Henry Osborne Curtis
Nickname(s)	"Squeak"[1]
Born	18 November 1888
Died	28 January 1964 (aged 75)
Buried	Lytchett Minster Parish Churchyard, Purbeck District, Dorset, England[2]
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1908–1946
Rank	Major-General
Service number	4309
Unit	King's Royal Rifle Corps
Commands held	4th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps 3rd Infantry Brigade 46th Infantry Division 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division Aldershot Command
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Army Distinguished Service Medal (United States)[3] Mentioned in dispatches (3)
Spouse(s)	Jean Mackenzie Low
Relations	Daniel Sargent Curtis (grandfather) Ralph Wormeley Curtis (uncle)

Early life

Curtis was born 18 November 1888. He was the son of Osborne Sargent Curtis, an American-born graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge,[5] and Frances Henrietta Gandy.[6] His paternal uncle was the artist Ralph Wormeley Curtis (1854–1922) and his grandfather was the American lawyer and banker, Daniel Sargent Curtis (1825-1908).[7]

Military career

Curtis was commissioned in the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1908.[8] He saw service during the First World War in France, Salonika and in Palestine. He was mentioned in dispatches three times and wounded three times; he was awarded the MC in 1917,[9] and the DSO in 1919.[10]

He commanded the 3rd Infantry Brigade, part of Major-General Sir Harold Alexander's 1st Infantry Division, from 1938 to 1939.[11] Handing over the brigade to Brigadier Thomas Wilson, a fellow KRRC officer, he was sent home from France in December 1939 and promoted to acting major-general on 21 December (with seniority backdated to 18 July 1938),[12] to assume command of the 46th Division.[11] Curtis rejoined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) with his division in April 1940. Evacuated from Dunkirk, he was appointed to command the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division in June 1940[11] which, at a reduced establishment, was detailed to occupy Iceland. Curtis spent the next two years in charge of his division from his office in Reykjavik. Made commander of Salisbury Plain District 1943,[11] he was appointed commander of the Hampshire District in 1944[11] and the Dorset District in 1945. He retired from the army in 1946.[11]

The family donated his medals to the Royal Green Jackets Museum but, at some point, some of the original medals have been substituted and were found for sale on the open market.[13]

Personal life

Curtis was married to Jean Mackenzie Low (1894–1977),[14] the daughter of John L. Low of Butterstone, Perthshire. He was the father of four sons, two of whom were killed in action, Richard Osborne Curtis (d. 1944) and Philip Evelyn Curtis (d. 1943).[15]

References

1. Smart, p. 76
2. "Henry Osborne "Squeak" Curtis". Find a Grave. 8 August 2010.
3. "No. 35645". The London Gazette. 24 July 1942. p. 3293.
4. "Biography of Major-General Henry Osborne Curtis (1888–1964), Great Britain". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
5. "Curtis, Osborne Sargent (CRTS878OS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
6. Thayer, William Roscoe; Castle, William Richards; Howe, Mark Antony De Wolfe; Pier, Arthur Stanwood; Voto, Bernard Augustine De; Morrison, Theodore (1909). The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association.
7. Pub, Matthews, George E. , & Co (1898). The men of New York: a collection of biographies and portraits of citizens of the Empire state prominent in business, professional, social, and political life during the last decade of the nineteenth century ... G.E. Matthews & Co.
8. "No. 28185". The London Gazette. 13 October 1908. p. 7383.
9. "No. 30111". The London Gazette. 1 June 1917. p. 5476.
10. "No. 31370". The London Gazette. 30 May 1919. p. 6818.
11. "Army Commands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
12. "No. 34819". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 March 1940. p. 1825.
13. Sawer, Patrick (14 September 2019). "The descendant of the real life James Bond and the mystery of the missing medals". The Daily Telegraph.
14. Houterman, J.N. "Officers of the British Army 1939-1945 -- C". www.unithistories.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
15. Churchill, Winston; Gilbert, Martin (1993). The Churchill War Papers: The ever-widening war, 1941. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 1072. ISBN 9780393019599.

Bibliography

• Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.

External links

• British Army Officers 1939–1945
• Generals of World War II